England team news and predicted XI vs Japan: Harry Kane and Elliot Anderson decisions made
England may well make some changes to their starting XI again when they take on Japan.
England continue their preparations for the 2026 World Cup with a friendly against Japan on Tuesday night. The Three Lions are back in action at Wembley following their 1-1 draw with Uruguay over the weekend. Defender Ben White got their goal last time out before Federico Valverde equalised.
Their upcoming match is another opportunity for Thomas Tuchel to make some changes. He testing some new things at the moment as he looks to find the right formula ahead of the big tournament this summer. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him chop and change again for this one.
England team news ahead of Japan test
England boss Tuchel told the press last week that 11 players would be out for the Uruguay match. It remains to be seen at this stage who will be back for Japan. He said: "These guys have played 3,500 minutes, some 4,000 minutes. More important than the pure number of minutes is some of these guys have played more minutes than the whole of last season. All of these players have contributed in September, October and November. They have credit with me. To give them a break mentally and physically, we will benefit from it."
The 11 players who weren’t involved against Uruguay were: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice (both Arsenal), Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers (both Aston Villa), Marc Guéhi, Nico O’Reilly (both Manchester City), Dan Burn, Anthony Gordon (both Newcastle United), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace) and Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest).
Elsewhere, Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze and Bayer Leverkusen’s Jarell Quansah have recently withdrawn from the squad due to injuries. Rice, Saka and Madueke have gone back to Arsenal for medical assessments, whilst John Stones, Adam Wharton, Aaron Ramsdale, Fikayo Tomori and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have also dropped out.
England predicted starting XI vs Japan
Everton goalkeeper Pickford will keep his place between the sticks for England. Konsa and O’ Reilly are then likely to occupy the full-back positions. The latter will be in confident mood after scoring twice for Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final recently at Wembley.
In the heart of the backline, Burn and Guehi will be eager to keep a clean sheet and prevent Japan from causing the Three Lions issues. Guehi was snapped up by City in the January transfer window. Prior to his switch to the Etihad Stadium, he cauht the eye at Crystal Palace.
Garner got some minutes against Uruguay and could feature again here. Anderson is becoming a key player under Tuchel. Nottingham Forest will face a serious battle to keep hold of him this summer amid expected attention from elsewhere.
Further up the pitch, there could be game time in store for Bowen, Rogers and Gordon. They will all be keen to show what they can do on the big stage. Up front, Kane sat out against Uruguay so is line for a start.
England predicted starting XI vs. Japan: Pickford; Konsa, Burn, Guehi, O’Reilly; Anderson, Garner; Bowen, Rogers, Gordon; Kane