Arsenal star 'axed' by Thomas Tuchel from England's team for Serbia clash
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(Credit: Imago)
Oliver Walton
Tue 9 September 2025 13:01, UK
England boss Thomas Tuchel has surprisingly chosen to drop an Arsenal star from his squad against Serbia despite the player starting the last World Cup qualifier against Andorra.
England have struggled to impress since Thomas Tuchel became their new head-coach at the start of 2025, and they face a stern test on Tuesday (9 September) evening as they take on Serbia in Belgrade in qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
The Three Lions do sit top of their qualifying group, but an uninspiring 2-0 win against Andorra on Saturday (6 September) did little to allay fans’ fears of more failure in the next tournament as numerous players failed to perform.
Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson was not one of those, as he impressed on his debut at Villa Park, and Tuchel could hand out more maiden caps against Serbia as Djed Spence and James Trafford each wait in the wings to play.
Spence has been impressing at Tottenham over the last few months after he emerged into their starting eleven midway through last season, and he could well be handed a chance from the off on Tuesday after seeing one of his main full-back competitors surprisingly dropped from the squad.
(Credit Imago)
According to Sky Sports, Arsenal left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly has not been included in Tuchel’s squad to face Serbia on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old is known to have trained with his teammates on Monday morning, and he travelled to Belgrade with the group, but, under UEFA rules, only 23 players can be included in the matchday squad, and the German boss has chosen to leave him out for this clash.
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Football Insider verdict
Lewis-Skelly did not impress against Andorra on Saturday, as he was handed a chance to start at left-back for his country but did not grab the opportunity with both hands and seemed nervous against a team that provided very little in the way of attacking threat.
The Arsenal youngster needed to perform much better to nail down his position ahead of potentially being on the plane to the World Cup, especially with strong competition from Spence and Tino Livramento.
AppearancesGoalsAssists3523Spence’s 2024/25 Tottenham stats
Spence should be handed an opportunity by Tuchel to stake his claim against tough opponents in Belgrade, as it would be a great chance for him to show that he can compete at the top level against a team that usually qualifies for major tournaments.
He massively impressed last term under Ange Postecoglou, and has started this season in a similar vein under Thomas Frank, while Livramento has never truly shone in either of his two Three Lions appearances up to now, so Spence deserves a start on Tuesday to show what he can do.