England manager Thomas Tuchel may have to cope without both Marc Guéhi and Declan Rice for Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal against Norway.
As noted by BBC Sport, both players missed training on Thursday, with Guéhi carrying a hamstring injury and Rice battling a sickness bug that also prevented him from training on Wednesday.
The news comes as Jarell Quansah was issued a two-game ban for his red card in the round-of-16 victory over Mexico, meaning the versatile defender would only be free to return for the World Cup final if England can make it that far.
England’s Options to Replace Guéhi
After coming off the bench in England’s tournament opener against Croatia, Guéhi has played every minute possible for the Three Lions. But that run appears to be in serious danger.
Quansah would be among the alternatives for Tuchel had he not picked up a suspension, meaning Tuchel will have to look elsewhere. Thankfully, England’s roster is full of center backs, particularly after Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah was chosen to replace the injured Tino Livramento before the tournament began.
John Stones would appear to be the preferred deputy for Guéhi, having started in his place against Croatia alongside usual starter Ezri Konsa. The towering Dan Burn may also have earned a start, with his added physicality likely to be useful against Erling Haaland.
Whether Konsa starts in a central role is another question. The Aston Villa defender may be needed on the right, where Quansah was filling in for Reece James after the Chelsea captain suffered a hamstring injury. James was back in training on Thursday but is highly unlikely to play major minutes on Saturday.
If Konsa is deployed on the right, Tuchel’s central options would be Burn, Stones and Chalobah.
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Rice’s Illness Comes at Awful Time for England
A sickness bug appears to have worked its way through the Norway camp this week and the same issue seems to have struck Rice.
Rice has started four of the five games for England this summer, resting only in the group stage against Panama. Even if he shakes off his illness in time for the Norway game, a starting role would appear unlikely after several days out of training.
England’s midfield group has already been depleted by Jordan Henderson’s freak wrist injury, meaning there seems to be just one option to start alongside Elliot Anderson on Saturday.
Many Manchester United fans have questioned the lack of minutes handed to Kobbie Mainoo this summer—the 21-year-old has yet to come off the bench—but that opportunity could be about to arrive in a big way if Rice is unavailable.
With no other natural deep midfielders in the squad, Tuchel may have to get creative here. James has played in that role for Chelsea and we’ve seen Nico O’Reilly there for Manchester City, but both players may be needed in defense instead.
Eberechi Eze has very brief experience in a deeper role for Arsenal, but anything else would likely require a change in system, with Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers far more comfortable in an attacking role.
