England v Ghana LIVE: Team news as Tuchel makes two surprise changes as World Cup campaign continues in Boston – UK Times

Thomas Tuchel has made two changes to the England team that defeated Croatia in their previous outing.

Djed Spence comes in and will play at left-back ahead of Nico O’Reilly while Marc Guehi slots in at centre-back in place of John Stones.

Declan Rice is fit to start but Bukayo Saka begins the game on the bench once more.

Ghana XI: Asare; Senaya, Adjetey, Opoku, Mensah; Yirenkyi, Partey; Sibo, Iñaki Williams, Semenyo; Jordan Ayew

This will be just the second time that England have played in Boston, USA across their history.

Their previous visit ended in a 2-0 friendly loss to the USA in June 1993 under Graham Taylor.

Will Thomas Tuchel’s side repeat that history later on or can they secure a win?

A couple of surprise changes then, as Djed Spence and Marc Guehi come in, with Nico O’Reilly and John Stones dropping to the bench.

England XI: Pickford; James, Konsa, Guehi, Spence; Anderson, Rice; Madueke, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane

Within the England camp, there’s been a phrase that Thomas Tuchel has used a lot. The German constantly talks of the need to “walk the talk”. He’s said it in reference to everything from his own selection decisions and man-management to how the players interact with each other. And now, it needs to apply to this second World Cup match against Ghana.

Or, perhaps more appropriately for this game in Foxborough, the phrase should be “run the talk” or even sprint it.

England are unbeaten against African teams at the World Cup – in their eight matches, they have won five and drawn three.

This match will also represent England’s eighth different African opponent at the World Cup (after Morocco, Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Algeria and Senegal), more than any other nation.

England and Ghana are facing each other at the World Cup for the first time.

Their only previous encounter came in a March 2011 friendly at Wembley with the game ending 1-1, after goals from Andy Carroll and Asamoah Gyan.

Can England improve on that tonight and secure a place in the knockout rounds?

Nico O’Reilly is considering getting a World Cup tattoo if he can help England to glory in the United States.