ALEX CROOK PREVIEW: England v Senegal

Star Sports ambassador ALEX CROOK previews England’s friendly with Senegal at the City Ground, as the Three Lions bid to bounce back from a dire showing in Andorra….

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Thomas Tuchel may already be a history-maker, but three games into his tenure as England manager it is hard to argue much has changed from the Gareth Southgate era, writes ALEX CROOK.

A star-studded team struggling to break down a low block and boring their fans to tears. Sound familiar?

Tuchel may be able to claim he is the first Three Lions boss ever to win his first three games without conceding.

However, that statistic comes with a massive asterisk in that those victories have come against minnows Latvia, Albania and Andorra.

All three wins have also been far from convincing, with Saturday’s dire 1-0 win in Barcelona over an Andorran side ranked 173rd in the world leaving Tuchel with far more questions than answers.

Do you really need to play Jordan Henderson as a defensive midfielder against that level of opponent? Should Harry Kane’s minutes not have been managed to give Ivan Toney a chance to impress his new boss?

Most baffling of all for me was the decision to play Reece James out of position at left-back when he is still trying to find his way back to full fitness after three injury-ravaged years.

No wonder the travelling England fans voiced their frustration by booing the team off at half-time and full-time.

After all, Tuchel did promise to entertain as well as deliver results, in what was seen at the time as a thinly-veiled dig towards his predecessor Southgate.

Tuchel will get another chance to deliver on that pledge when England take on former African champions Senegal in a friendly at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground tonight.

Senegal, unbeaten in their six World Cup qualifiers, should at least show a bit more attacking intent than Tuchel’s first three opponents, which will hopefully make for a more open contest.

The visitors also have plenty of Premier League experience in their ranks with the likes of Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson and Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye among their star names.

Although there will be no return to English soil for former Liverpool star Sadio Mane after he asked to be left out of the squad following criticism from his own fans.

Tuchel was not shy in voicing his displeasure with England’s weekend performance and is sure to ring the changes.

Toney should replace Kane as the focal point of the attack and will be eager to make his mark after Tuchel’s frankly bizarre admission that he has not had time to jet to Saudi Arabia and see the former Brentford ace in action.

England have never lost in 21 previous encounters against African opponents, including a win over Senegal at the last World Cup in Qatar, but based on recent displays, I am loath to back them to win at odds-on.

Senegal have a decent defensive record and come into the game on a 15-match unbeaten run, so the match to end in a draw at 16/5 with starsports.bet looks over-priced to me.

I also wonder how motivated the England players will be after a long domestic season so Under 2.5 goals with starsports.bet looks another decent play.

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