Thomas Tuchel kicked off his tenure as England manager with a professional if slightly dull 2-0 victory over Albania at Wembley on Friday night.
Myles Lewis-Skelly scored his first international goal on his senior debut while Harry Kane extended his record tally to 70 goals for the national team.
Despite the win, England’s performance was very reminiscent of the Gareth Southgate era with controlled possession, slow build-up and a lack of runners in the wide areas. Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden took on the latter roles and Tuchel has explained ‘what more he wants’ as he seeks to bring Premier League intensity to the international game.
Anthony Gordon has withdrawn from the squad after picking up a hip injury against Albania and there have been four changes to the starting XI with Reece James, Marc Guehi, Morgan Rogers and Jarrod Bowen all getting the nod.
Follow all the updates and action with our live blog below as England face Latvia at Wembley:
England 0-0 Latvia, 8 mins
James has absolutely laid out Ciganiks as they both competed for a headed ball. Robust challenge – no quarter given.
James will want to prove himself at right-back after injury has limited his England chances in the last couple of years.
Bellingham then gets a bit of space down the left but Jaunzems comes in with a good slide tackle
England 0-0 Latvia, 5 mins
Rashford fizzes a reverse pass through the defence but it’s just a shade too far for Bellingham who had made a lovely run, and goes out for a goal-kick.
Bellingham looks like he’s playing a touch deeper than Rogers but not properly alongside Rice to form a midfield duo. Closer to the 4-1-4-1 Tuchel talked about than a true 4-2-3-1
England 0-0 Latvia, 2 mins
Bowen harries the Latvia defence with the press and nicks the ball away but it just rolls into touch.
England’s press is intense early on before keeping possession and feeling their opponents out in the early going.
KICK-OFF! England 0-0 Latvia
And we’re underway at Wembley. How many will England win by tonight in their first-ever game against Latvia?
Morgan Rogers gets first start
Just before kick-off this evening, why not check out Morgan Rogers’ interview with Gabriel Clarke.
He’s making his first England start tonight:
England warming up for Latvia clash
Fewer than 10 minutes until kick-off now with warm-ups complete at Wembley
Your questions on Tuchel’s England answered – from the best midfield to Rashford ‘criticism’
Our Chief Football Writer Miguel Delaney, who is at Wembley tonight, did and Ask Me Anything on the England team earlier today.
Check out all his answers:
England vs Latvia prediction: Captain Kane can star in big win
Three points tonight are almost a given. After all, England haven’t lost a World Cup or European Championship qualifier at Wembley since November 2008, when they were beaten 3-2 by Croatia.
They are actually unbeaten in 32 straight World Cup qualifiers since losing 1-0 to Ukraine in 2009 and you have to go back to 2000 for the last time they were beaten at home in a World Cup qualifier, when they lost 1-0 to Germany with Dietmar Hamann scoring the only goal of the game.
England are a best-price of 1/25 on football betting sites, while Latvia are 100/1 and you can get 33/1 on a draw at Wembley.
Here’s our prediction and best bets for the match:
Latvia team news
Here’s how Latvia will line up this evening to face England
England team news – four changes made by Tuchel
It’s four changes from the England side that beat Albania 2-0 on Friday night.
Reece James and Marc Guehi come into the defence for Kyle Walker and Dan Burn, while Morgan Rogers and Jarrod Bowen are added to the attacking fray.
They start instead of Curtis Jones and the beleaguered Phil Foden. With Jones being replaced by the more attacking Morgan Rogers, it will be interesting to see if Jude Bellingham drops deeper alongside Declan Rice or whether Tuchel will even trial the fabled 4-1-4-1 he’s discussed, with Rice exposed as the lone DM.
England XI: Pickford; James, Konsa, Guehi, Lewis-Skelly; Rice, Bellingham; Bowen, Rogers, Rashford; Kane