Lee Carsley tonight has named Ollie Watkins to lead the line for England in Greece, with Harry Kane on the bench.
The Three Lions are in Athens knowing that a repeat of last month’s shock defeat by Greece will see them fail to return to Nations League A automatically and instead head into a play-off in March.
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The Football Association (FA) confirmed on Monday night that Bukayo Saka, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Levi Colwill, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Cole Palmer, Aaron Ramsdale and Declan Rice would all return to their clubs for medical assessment and play no part either against Greece or on Sunday against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley.
In their place, Jarrod Bowen, Jarrad Branthwaite, Tino Livramento and James Trafford were all added to the squad, along with first-time call-up Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa. Branthwaite has since also pulled out of the squad, with Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah stepping in.
Harry Kane has reportedly been contending with a niggle and so does not start, with Watkins given a rare chance to impress.
Curtis Jones partners Conor Gallagher in the deeper midfield roles, behind Jude Bellingham, while Kyle Walker captains the side at right-back. Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa get the nod at centre-back.
England XI: Pickford, Walker, Konsa, Guehi, Lewis, Gallagher, Jones, Madueke, Bellingham, Gordon, Watkins
Subs: Henderson, Trafford, Gibbs-White, Angel, Kane, Hall, Livramento, Quansah, Harwood-Bellis, Rogers, Bowen, Solanke
Time and date: 7.45pm GMT on Thursday November 14, 2024
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Athens
How to watch: ITV
