England vs Bulgaria LIVE: Team news confirmed, decision over Liverpool and Chelsea stars

ENGLAND vs BULGARIA – WEMBLEY, 5PM

England XI: Pickford, Trippier, Keane, Maguire, Rose, Henderson, Rice, Barkley, Sterling, Rashford, Kane.

Bulgaria XI: Iliev, S. Popov, Bodurov, Bozhikov, Nedyalkov, Sarmov, Ivanov, I. Popov, Malinov, Wanderson, Marcelinho.

  • England play Bulgaria in a Euro 2020 qualifier at Wembley
  • Mason Mount, James Maddison and Tyrone Mings all start on the bench
  • Three Lions looking to make it three wins from three in Group A

Rashford embracing pressure

16.20: Marcus Rashford is under more pressure at Manchester United this season following the departure of Romelu Lukaku in the summer.

However, he says that is something he has gotten used to over the years.

“I think without the pressure in football it wouldn’t be the same, the atmosphere wouldn’t be the same,” Rashford said.

“The pressure is the thing that draws people to the game, and you’re unsure what’s going to happen. That’s what makes the sport beautiful.

“No-one can ever add to the pressure that you already put on yourself. Especially at Manchester United, you have this pressure on your shoulders that you’ve learned to deal with since you were seven, eight, nine years old.”

Group A latest

16.10: England came into this round of fixtures in top spot of Group A.

However, Kosovo’s win over Czech Republic earlier today means they have knocked the Three Lions down to second.

Patrik Schick opened the scoring for Czech Republic after just 16 minutes.

But Vedat Muriqi equalised just four minutes later for Kosovo and Mergim Vojvoda scored a second-half winner to seal a 2-1 win.

If England beat Bulgaria today then they will go back above Tuesday’s opponents.

Jesse didn’t deserve spot

16.00: So Lingard misses the match due to illness and former Arsenal winger Perry Groves will be pleased the Manchester United star is not playing.

Groves said on talkSPORT earlier this week the 26-year-old should never have been named in the England squad by Southgate in the first place.

“Jesse Lingard should be nowhere near that England squad, nowhere near,” Groves said.

“He must have bruises all over his body where he’s pinching himself regularly, because he shouldn’t be in the squad.”

Lingard back at United

15.45: England have announced Jesse Lingard has returned to Manchester United.

The midfielder missed Friday’s training session due to a bout of illness.

It was thought he would feature in Tuesday’s match against Kosovo.

However, Lingard has been sent home to recover fully.

The sides…

15.40: There are no full debutants for England, as Mount, Maddison and Mings all start on the bench.

Liverpool duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez are also among the substitutes, with Kieran Trippier and Michael Keane preferred.

England XI: Pickford, Trippier, Keane, Maguire, Rose, Henderson, Rice, Barkley, Sterling, Rashford, Kane.

Subs: Alexander-Arnold, Heaton, Chilwell, Gomez, Mings, Winks, Mount, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Maddison, Sancho, Pope, Wilson.

Bulgaria XI: Iliev, S. Popov, Bodurov, Bozhikov, Nedyalkov, Sarmov, Ivanov, I. Popov, Malinov, Wanderson, Marcelinho.

Subs: Ivanov, Lukov, K. Dimitrov, Pashov, Slavchev, Despodov, Kraev, Milanov, Mladenov, Goranov, Terziev, N. Dimitrov.

Afternoon…

15.35: Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of England’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Bulgaria at Wembley.

Gareth Southgate’s side have won their first two games of the group stage and entertain a Bulgaria side who have just two points from their first four matches.

The days of Hristo Stoichkov and more recently Dimitar Berbatov are long in the past for Krasimir Balakov’s side, which makes the Three Lions overwhelming favourites for this one.

England’s line-up is likely to be an exciting one going forward, with possible debuts for Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Leicester’s James Maddison.

Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings is likely to start from the bench as he aims for a first cap.

ENGLAND vs BULGARIA – TEAM NEWS

England are without two Manchester United stars for the visit of Bulgaria.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka pulled out of the squad with an injury earlier this week, so will not make his senior debut.

Jesse Lingard is ill and will not be part of the match-day squad, though could still feature against Kosovo on Tuesday.

His absence could mean Chelsea’s Mason Mount makes his bow after a fine start to the campaign for the Blues.

source: express.co.uk