The Gareth Southgate era is over; long live Lee Carsley – well, for at least six matches.
Interim boss Carsley has been tasked with navigating England’s promotion back to the Nations League’s top tier after relegation last year, starting with matches against Ireland and Finland.
The former England Under-21 manager turned heads by calling up four debutants to his first squad, including Lille’s Angel Gomes and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
Here’s what to expect from Carsley’s debut in the senior job on Saturday evening.
England team news
Carsley instantly stamped his mark on his first England squad and expect him to do the same with his first starting line-up.
Although Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Ollie Watkins had to pull out of international duty due to injury and illness, the former Everton and Ireland midfielder can still choose from an incredibly strong 23.
In goal, there is nothing to suggest Jordan Pickford will lose his long-term place as England’s No 1 despite a shaky start to the season.
And ahead of him, Carsley has said he views Trent Alexander-Arnold as a right-back rather than in the midfield spot Southgate utilised him during Euro 2024. He is likely to get the nod over Rico Lewis early on but this shows the sort of player Carsley wants at full-back.
There are five centre-backs in the squad, including Southgate’s preferred summer pairing of Marc Guehi and John Stones, although Stones is yet to start a Premier League match for Manchester City this season.
Harry Maguire has also returned after injury ruled him out of Euro 2024, while Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa and Chelsea’s Levi Colwill have both been called up.
There seems little reason to break up the Stones/Guehi partnership after its relative summer success and this may well be part of Southgate’s team Carsley chooses to leave alone.
But with Kieran Trippier not in the squad, Ben Chilwell in Chelsea exile and Luke Shaw injured once again, a new left-back is needed.
This may well be Konsa, but could also be Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento, someone Carsley has worked with a lot before and works well on the left despite being right-footed. It’s worth mentioning Carsley won the 2023 U21 Euros with Max Aarons, a right-footed right-back by trade, on the left.
In midfield, there is nothing to suggest Declan Rice will not continue running the show, but the other two spots are more open. Carsley has traditionally used two central midfielders in a double pivot with a 10 further forward and while Kobbie Mainoo could partner Rice, this is a perfect opportunity for surprise pick Gomes to debut.
There are two obvious candidates for the No 10 spot – Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze. While Eze has been in sparkling form for Crystal Palace despite their mixed start, Gibbs-White has worked with Carsley for years and may well join Gomes in making his senior international debut.
And given Carsley’s long history of working with Anthony Gordon and the summer clamour for him to start, the forward line somewhat picks itself.
Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane are very hard to bench in games Carsley will know act as as an audition for the permanent role, so expect England’s two leading attackers to both take to the Aviva pitch on Saturday, with Gordon on the left.
Who could Lee Carsley hand debuts to?
Carsley has called up four debutants and five players from his U21 Euro-winning squad.
While all may not start on Saturday, expect each of them to get minutes at some point, with Noni Madueke seemingly a natural hour-mark replacement for Saka.
England’s predicted line-up to face Ireland
4-2-3-1: Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Guehi, Livramento; Gomes, Rice, Saka, Gibbs-White, Gordon; Kane