Thomas Tuchel makes bold Marcus Rashford call as first England XI confirmed | Football | Sport

Thomas Tuchel has immediately reinstated Marcus Rashford to the England starting line-up for his first match in charge. The Three Lions are set to face Albania tonight and Rashford will start in attack. The German took over the reins in January, succeeding Gareth Southgate. His first squad selection earlier this month saw Rashford brought back in after falling out of favour under the previous coach.

And not just that, but Rashford goes back into the starting XI this evening as well. This will be the on-loan Aston Villa forward’s first appearance for his country since March 2024, and his first start since November 2023. Rashford has yet to score the Villans since joining on loan from Manchester United in the January transfer window but has nonetheless enjoyed an obvious resurgence and looks happy on the pitch again.

Elsewhere, Tuchel hands a 74th England cap to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford who looks set to remain No.1 under the new boss. In defence, teenage Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly is rewarded with a debut after impressing for the Gunners. He starts at left-back with veteran Kyle Walker earning cap No.94 at right-back.

Between the duo, Dan Burn is another Three Lions debutant less than a week after his Wembley heroics for Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final. He’s partnered by Villa’s Ezri Konsa.

Tuchel appears to have selected a 4-3-3 with Declan Rice at the base of midfield and Curtis Jones and Jude Bellingham in the two slightly more attack-minded midfield roles ahead of him. In attack, Rashford starts on the left with captain Harry Kane deployed through the middle and Phil Foden to his right.

Three players have been left out of the 23-man match-day squad entirely – Morgan Gibbs-White, Aaron Ramsdale and Jarell Quansah.

Explaining the decision to recall Rashford, Tuchel said earlier this week: “I had the feeling that we need to reward him now, we need to feel him, he needs to be close to me, that he does not fall back into old routines.

“He stepped up his game impressively [at Villa] against the ball. This is the most important point for him – the intensity after ball loss. The tracking back on the side. The sprinting. The hunting down. Making sure you’re in position.

“That he can bully defenders, we know all that … we forgot a little bit about it but we know it. He is a ­complete package. But at the same time, we want to make sure that he stays on track.”

This story originally appeared on the Mirror