England predicted line-up vs. Finland: key change made as Arsenal and Nottingham Forest stars start

Lee Carsley’s tenure as England interim manager got off to a strong start on Saturday thanks to a 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland, but he now has to follow that up on Tuesday when the Three Lions take on Finland at Wembley.

England have never lost to Finland in the nine games the two nations have played against each other, with the last meeting between the two sides coming 23 years ago, when Michael Owen and David Beckham’s goals helped Sven-Göran Eriksson to oversee a 2-1 comeback victory in a qualifier for the 2002 World Cup.

Given Finland’s dismal 3-0 defeat to Greece in their opening Nations League match, the expectation will be a comfortable victory – and the good news for Carsley is that he does not appear to have any new injury problems to deal with ahead of Tuesday evening’s game.

We’ve collected all of the latest England team news below for you along with a predicted line-up as Carsley continues his audition to become the next permanent head coach of the national team.

Goalkeeper & Defence

With a clean bill of health across his squad and what should, on paper, be a weak opponent, it remains to be seen whether Carsley will be willing to experiment with his selection at Wembley given the potential significance of the result for his own career – but it seems all but certain that Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold will continue at right-back after his ability to move into midfield when England were in possession proved to be crucial to the team’s shape.

John Stones could replace Harry Maguire alongside Marc Guéhi while Ezri Konsa will push for Levi Colwill’s starting spot as the more conservative left-sided full-back. Jordan Pickford will most likely continue in goal.

Midfield

Jack Grealish’s goal against Ireland makes him a favourite to get another start, although Morgan Gibbs-White’s lively performance from the bench means he could push for a place ahead of the Manchester City man, who he replaced for the final quarter of an hour on Saturday, or Kobbie Mainoo. Declan Rice, who scored England’s opening goal, seems all but certain to start as the deepest central midfielder once more.

While England have avoided further injury problems thus far, Finland have not been so fortunate. Sparta Prague midfielder Kaan Kairinen was injured in the pre-match warm-up in Piraeus and the experienced Rasmus Schuller had to be substituted in the first-half following a knock. Neither are expected to be able to start at Wembley.

Forwards

Harry Kane is set to start and captain the side as he prepares to claim his 100th England cap – he will become the tenth player to reach the landmark for the men’s team and just the second centre-forward after Wayne Rooney.

His supporting cast could change, however, with Noni Madueke likely to get some minutes if only from the bench, while Jarrod Bowen is among the players pushing for a chance to impress – although Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon remain the apparent first choices on their respective flanks. Gibbs-White could also play in a more advanced role down the right at some point.

England predicted line-up vs. Finland

Pickford; Colwill, Guéhi, Stones, Alexander-Arnold; Grealish, Rice, Gibbs-White; Gordon, Saka, Kane.