Bellingham

Jude Bellingham is set to start in England’s coveted number 10 role for their World Cup opener against Croatia.

There has been conjecture over who will play in the central attacking berth for England after the emergence of Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers as a viable option in the position.

However, it is understood England manager Thomas Tuchel is likely to select Bellingham, 22, for Wednesday’s Group L encounter in Dallas (21:00 BST).

The Real Madrid star is expected to have Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson of Nottingham Forest alongside him in midfield.

Elsewhere, Ezri Konsa is likely to get the nod at centre-half alongside John Stones – with Marc Guehi in line to start on the bench.

Reece James and Nico O’Reilly are set to start at full-back.

Harry Kane will captain the side and lead the attack. Anthony Gordon is expected to play on the left wing with Noni Madueke in line to play on the right in place of Bukayo Saka, who is working his way back to full fitness from Achilles tendinitis.

Predicted line-up: Pickford; James, Stones, Konsa, O’Reilly; Anderson, Rice; Madueke, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane

Indeed, if that is the case, it appears that John Stones and Ezri Konsa will start the World Cup as England’s first-choice central defensive pairing.

That would come as a shock to many given the widely held view that Marc Guehi was the team’s first-choice centre-back.

Guehi, since his move from Crystal Palace to Manchester City, was picked ahead of Stones during the final months of the season by Pep Guardiola, though the latter’s campaign was heavily disrupted by injury.

Guehi became central to England’s plans during Euro 2024 and his ascendancy at international level was expected to rise further under Tuchel.

But there is an emerging feeling that Tuchel prefers more physicality in his central defensive pairing – with Stones and Konsa bigger than Guehi.

However, heading into the game against Croatia, the England head coach will also have to consider the question of balance.

Guehi generally plays as the left-sided central defender, so with Stones and Konsa both right-footed, balance may still be an issue that Tuchel may consider heading into the Croatia contest.

On the right side of England’s attack, Noni Madueke started ahead of Bukayo Saka on Wednesday.

Of course, a fully fit Saka would almost certainly start ahead of his Arsenal team-mate.

But Tuchel has admitted that Saka will need to be managed during the tournament as he still feels the effects of a lower leg muscular issue that prevented the attacker from playing a full part in Arsenal’s season run-in.

Indeed, there was genuine concern at the Emirates Stadium towards the back end of last season that Saka would miss the final weeks of the campaign and there remains concern at Arsenal about his fitness given he is currently not under their auspices.

There is hope, however, that Saka’s fitness is improving day-by-day here in the US.

If England were playing in the knockout stages today, there is every chance Saka could play from the start – although potentially not finish the game.

So heading into the group stages, how much protection Tuchel provides Saka will be a factor towards the team the German decides to pick.

But in Madueke, Tuchel has a player he trusts and clearly rates, should the manager decide to ease Saka into the tournament.

Bellingham missed just 29 minutes of England’s Euro 2024 campaign, starting all seven matches, but his fortunes have changed under Gareth Southgate’s replacement.

The 22-year-old missed two qualifying matches last September because of a shoulder injury but was overlooked for October’s international camp, including a qualifier against Latvia.

He returned to the squad in November but was forced to miss friendlies in March with a persistent hamstring issue.

His relationship with Tuchel has frequently come under scrutiny, with the manager describing Bellingham’s on-field behaviour during last June’s defeat by Senegal as “repulsive” – a remark Tuchel later apologised for.

In November, Tuchel said he would “review” Bellingham’s behaviour following his reaction to being substituted during a qualifier against Albania.

However, he was impressed with Bellingham’s performance in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match against New Zealand in Tampa, believing he has hit a “sweet spot” heading into the tournament.

Bellingham took the captain’s armband after coming on at half-time in the 1-0 win.

“You can see Jude has for sure the decisiveness and bite,” Tuchel said. “This is his key characteristic, but you can see that he comes from an injury and is full of energy and happy to be back on the pitch.

“He had his break, unfortunately, in a decisive part of the season, the Champions League season and campaign for the championship in Spain, so this was very unfortunate for Real Madrid and for him personally.

“But you can see now that he is actually in a sweet spot. He comes back, he’s fresh, he wants to play and he’s in top shape.”

England and Real Madrid footballer Jude Bellingham has bought a 1% stake in cricket team Birmingham Phoenix.

The deal for The Hundred franchise, set to be confirmed on Wednesday, is worth around £800,000.

The eight franchises were put up for sale last year and American investment group Knighthead Capital Management, who own Bellingham’s former club Birmingham City, bought a 49% stake for £48m. Warwickshire retained their 51% stake.

Bellingham is a cricket fan and played junior cricket for Hagley Cricket Club in Worcestershire.

Asked in an interview last year which sportsperson he would swap places with, he said England Test captain Ben Stokes.

Legendary NFL quarterback Brady is also part of the Knighthead group.