Thomas Tuchel is expected to recall Jarell Quansah, Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon for England’s World Cup last 16 clash with Mexico.
Djed Spence, who received mixed reviews for his performance against DR Congo in the round of 32, is set to lose his place at right-back, while Noni Madueke and Marcus Rashford are in line to drop out for Saka and Madueke respectively.
According to the BBC, Tottenham defender Spence complained of a muscle issue on Sunday morning, which may have been a significant factor in Tuchel’s thinking ahead of the Mexico City showdown.
Reece James is still yet to return from a hamstring injury which ruled him out of England’s last two matches, a major blow which came after Tino Livramento was ruled out of the tournament.
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The Chelsea captain has not taken part in full training since his setback and was the sole player absent from England’s session on Saturday in Mexico City.
Golden Boot contender Harry Kane will lead England out for a record-breaking 92nd time as captain in the Mexican capital, where the Three Lions’ preparation for overcoming potential altitude problems at the iconic Azteca has dominated the pre-match conversation.
The eagerly anticipated last 16 contest kicks off at 01:00 BST, with a quarter-final match against either Brazil or Norway awaiting the victor.
England’s expected starting XI to face Mexico
Jordan Pickford, Jarell Quansah, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly; Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson; Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane
‘You know what, we feel it, we feel it even if we don’t train,’ Tuchel said when asked about the challenge of competing at 7,000 feet above sea level.
‘I felt, for example, a slight headache in the hotel room through the day. Didn’t sleep as well as the days before but nothing that you cannot handle and cannot adapt.
‘I think the players felt it in the first minutes of the training session and the longer it went, they could cope with it better. It is just what it is. We cannot physically adapt.
‘It is just impossible but we are here one day before to experience it at least, to not have all the first time experience tomorrow in [the] warm-up. We will have tomorrow’s warm-up, especially with the flight of the ball, with a bit of shortness of breath.
‘I think it is not a coincidence that Mexico starts their matches normally at home very strong, very front-footed, very aggressively because I think the first 15-20 minutes will be maybe the toughest for us. Once we overcome that and we experienced it a little bit already today, I think we are in a good place.’
More to follow.