As reported by Jack Pitt-Brooke of The Athletic, Jack Grealish and Levi Colwill are set to start in Lee Carsley’s first game as England’s interim head coach.
In what will be England’s opening fixture of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League, Grealish will make his return to The Three Lions setup for the first time since being left out of Gareth Southgate’s side for Euro 2024; with the 28-year-old facing off against his former national team the Republic of Ireland, whom he represented at youth level.
Since switching his allegiance to England, the Manchester City winger has gone on to make 36 appearances since September 2020, including five a piece at EURO 2020 (which took place in 2021) and the 2022 World Cup, but narrowly missed out on a trip to Germany this summer after being dropped from Southgate’s preliminary squad.
As such, Carsley will be making an instant statement by starting Grealish. As is also the case for Levi Colwill, who is set to make his first senior competitive start for his nation, having played a pivotal role under Carsley as England won the Under-21 European Championship last summer.
Other expected changes include the usage of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, rather than in the midfield role he was predominantly deployed in towards the end of Southgate’s tenure.
Meanwhile, as Carsley looks to make an impact and put himself as front-runner for the permanent job, the fixture at The Aviva Stadium may the 50-year-old hand debuts to Angel Gomes (24), Noni Madueke (22), Morgan Gibbs-White (24), and Tino Livramento (21), all of whom have just received their first senior call-ups from their former England youth coach.
If not against the Republic of Ireland this Saturday, said debuts may come in England’s next Nations League match-up on Tuesday evening, where the EURO 2024 runners-up will host Finland at Wembley stadium.
Travis Levison | Get Football
