Which English hope could the new coach identify at Tottenham against Newcastle?
Thomas Tuchel will take part in his first Premier League games as England manager this weekend, starting with Tottenham v Newcastle on Saturday (12.30pm GMT).
Former Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain coach Tuchel was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October, with his contract starting on January 1.
Tuchel will be supported in his role by assistant coach Anthony Barry, goalkeeping coach Henrique Hilario, performance coach Nicolas Mayer and analyst James Melbourne.
Ahead of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley in March, here are six players Tuchel may be keeping a close eye on at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
James Maddison (Tottenham)
Playmaker Maddison played his final England cap at Newcastle’s home stadium in June, coming on as a substitute for 29 minutes in the 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Three Lions’ final friendly before Euro 2024.
Maddison, who traveled to the 2022 World Cup injured and was an unused substitute after recovering in Qatar, said “devastated isn’t quite enough” after being left out of the tournament in Germany by Southgate, but admitted that was not the case, Spurs had their strongest 2023/24 season.
The 28-year-old has so far avoided the injuries that plagued him in previous 2024/25 seasons and has contributed eight goals and four assists in 19 Premier League appearances. However, he was on the bench in five of Tottenham’s last ten league games.
#️⃣1289 @tino_livramento ??? pic.twitter.com/Nqqf32nVZ4
– Newcastle United (@NUFC) November 19, 2024
Tino Livramento (Newcastle)
Right-back Livramento played for England at youth level before being called up for the first time when interim coach Lee Carsley took charge of the Nations League games in October.
The 22-year-old made a memorable debut when he featured in the 5-0 win over the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on November 17 and has appeared in all 18 of Newcastle’s league games this season, including 14 times in the starting line-up.
Livramento had played ten consecutive first division games before missing the 3-0 home win against Aston Villa on December 26th due to illness. He returned from the bench at Manchester United four days later and hopes to be back in the starting line-up ahead of Tuchel, with the Magpies aiming for a fifth straight league clean sheet.
Anthony Gordon (Newcastle)
Winger Gordon was named player of the tournament in England’s 2023 European Under-21 victory. He made his senior national team debut in March and played one minute at Euro 2024.
Carsley, who coached that U21 title, started Gordon in five of his six games as coach, with the 23-year-old scoring his first goal for England against the Republic of Ireland.
Gordon has started just once for Newcastle this season, providing four of his five assists in the last five games and one of his four goals so far this season. Tottenham may have even more reason to be cautious given their added motivation to impress Tuchel.
Lewis Hall’s first goal for the club! 😍💫
🔙 #MUNNEW pic.twitter.com/aCLGluURk1
– Newcastle United (@NUFC) December 29, 2024
Lewis Hall (Newcastle)
Hall and Tuchel know each other well from their time at Chelsea, where the German made his academy debut as a 17-year-old in the FA Cup against Chesterfield in January 2022, making him the club’s youngest starter in the competition.
“I remember his sessions were really good,” Hall said of Tuchel. spoke to the Football Association in December. “A lot of it was possession-based, which I really enjoyed, and he was a good person to me and gave me my debut. “Without that, it probably wouldn’t have given me the confidence to carry on.”
The left-back made his England debut as a half-time substitute in the 3-0 win in Greece in November and played during the game against the Republic of Ireland three days later. Since the end of September, he has been a near-constant league presence for Newcastle, including two assists in the last four top-flight games.
Bergvall ➡️ Sarr ➡️ Solanke 🏹
3️⃣ in 3️⃣ for Dom who adds our third goal at Old Trafford 🎯 pic.twitter.com/f4yd1AGQY8
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 29, 2024
Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)
Tottenham’s £65million summer signing from Bournemouth is hoping he won’t have to wait an extraordinarily long time for his next international cap after finally making his only international appearance – which came more than seven years ago – with two brief substitute appearances in October and November added.
Solanke, the 2014 England Youth Player of the Year, is an Under-17 European Champion and Under-20 World Cup winner, but his outstanding form with the Cherries was not enough to persuade Southgate to give him senior recognition.
The 27-year-old has 10 goals and five assists in 25 appearances for Spurs this season, although Maddison, Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins and Ipswich Town goalscorer Liam Delap are among the English players who have surpassed him in the Premier League.
Sent home by Harvey Barnes. 🎰 pic.twitter.com/8sqM142Xd0
– Newcastle United (@NUFC) November 12, 2024
Harvey Barnes (Newcastle)
Winger Barnes played for Southgate while at his former club Leicester City and came on as a substitute in a friendly against Wales in October 2020.
After joining Newcastle for around £38m in July 2023, the former under-20 and under-21 international missed much of last season due to a foot injury and returned with three goals and two assists in the final ten league games.
Barnes scored the last of his five goals so far this season in the 4-2 defeat at Brentford on December 7 and has since appeared as a substitute in each of Newcastle’s five consecutive wins. The 27-year-old scored for the Foxes against Tuchel’s Chelsea in August 2022.
