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Anthony Gordon has withdrawn from the squad after picking up a hip injury against Albania and there may be changes to the starting XI with the likes of Jordan Henderson and Marc Guehi brought into the team.
Follow all the updates and action with our live blog below as England face Latvia at Wembley:
Tuchel to raise England standards
Thomas Tuchel has been brought in as England boss with one aim; Win the World Cup.
In order to do that the manager hopes to raise the standards of England’s performances and has identified that just winning games isn’t enough.
The manner of those wins is also massively important.
“With all respect, this is not now just to get a win over Latvia, no matter how,” the manager said.
“This is about our standards. How do we win, how do we play and how do we impose ourselves and deserve a win against Latvia?
“It’s to raise the standards.”
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England vs Latvia prediction
England are almighty favourites up against Latvia and anything less than a rout will be a surprise.
Expect goals galore on Thomas Tuchel’s second England outing.
England 5-0 Latvia.
Early team news for Latvia
Latvia have no new injury concerns, with any changes during the Andorra win appearing purely tactical.
Deniss Melinks was taken off at half-time for the more attacking Dario Sits, who scored the winner last week.
Sits may have proved his case to start against England, but expect a well-rested Melinks to keep his place in the starting XI, with defensive resilience sure to be of paramount importance for the visitors.
Predicted Latvia XI: Zviedris; Jurkovskis, Balodis, Cernomordijs; Savalnieks, Melniks, Savaljevs, Ciganiks; Zelenkovs, Ikaunieks; Sits
England early team news
Anthony Gordan has withdrawn from the squad after limping off with a hip injury towards the end of England’s 2-0 win over Albania last Friday.
Morgan Gibbs-White could be in line to step in for Gordan, who didn’t feature in Tuchel’s matchday squad on Friday.
Expect wholesale changes to Tuchel’s starting XI as he works out his favoured team, which could see the likes of James Trafford, Reece James, Jordan Henderson and Jarrod Bowen feature.
Predicted England XI: Trafford; James, Colwill, Guehi, Livramento; Rice, Henderson; Bowen, Bellingham, Rodgers; Kane
How can I watch the game?
The clash will be shown live and free-to-air on ITV1 and ITVX for viewers in the United Kingdom, with coverage beginning at 7pm GMT.
When is England vs Latvia?
The World Cup qualifier is due to kick off at 7.45pm GMT on Monday 24 March at Wembley Stadium in London.
England vs Latvia
The Three Lions cruised to a 2-0 win over Albania on Friday in Tuchel’s first outing as England boss, with goals from Myles Lewis-Skelly and Harry Kane propelling the German to a victorious start.
They now face Latvia in what is a top of the table clash in Group K, after the visitors beat Andorra 1-0 in the qualifying opener.
England go into the contest as heavy favourites and will be eager to make it a straightforward assignment under the Wembley lights.
Good afternoon!
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s World Cup qualifier between England and Latvia.
Thomas Tuchel’s time as England boss got off to a winning start when the Three Lions defeated Albania 2-0 at home last Friday and he’ll want to continue that winning run tonight.
The manager may change up the starting XI to get a better look at the rest of his squad with the likes of Jordan Henderson and Marc Guehi in line to make appearances.
We’ll have all the latest team news, line-ups and updates throughout the day so stick with us as we build up to kick off at 7.45 pm.