Suspended Lewis-Skelly forces Tuchel into midfield rethink for England's Croatia clash

Myles Lewis-Skelly will sit out England’s UEFA Nations League fixture against Croatia at Wembley on Thursday, 13 November, despite being included in Thomas Tuchel’s 25-man squad — leaving the head coach to reshuffle his midfield for the 7:45pm kick-off.

The Arsenal midfielder is serving a one-match suspension after collecting yellow cards in both of England’s Group C meetings with Czechia during the last international break — a 2-0 home win and a 3-0 away victory. The second caution triggered an automatic one-game ban, ruling him out of the Croatia fixture but leaving him free to feature against Spain three days later.

Lewis-Skelly, 20, had established himself as a regular starter under Tuchel, beginning three of the four matches in the previous window. His absence opens the door for several alternatives. The return of Declan Rice from injury could see him slot back into the engine room alongside Jude Bellingham and Elliot Anderson, while Jobe Bellingham — called up for the first time — is another option who could line up alongside his brother after joining from Borussia Dortmund.

First-time call-ups Josh King and Eberechi Eze, along with James Garner, are further midfield options available to Tuchel for the Croatia game.

Beyond the Lewis-Skelly ban, Tuchel faces a secondary concern heading into the Spain fixture on Sunday. Both Jude Bellingham and Marc Guehi have already been booked once in the group phase, meaning a caution against Croatia would rule each of them out of the Madrid trip.

England currently sit second in Group C, three points behind Spain but with a superior goal difference — making the head-to-head in Madrid potentially decisive in determining who tops the group. The sides met at Wembley in September, with Spain winning 3-2 in a match England led 2-1. Lamine Yamal put Spain ahead inside two minutes before Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane turned it around, only for Harry Kane to miss a penalty and Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal to complete the comeback in the second half.