James Maddison and Marc Guehi star in England XI determined by Dream Team points

THOMAS TUCHEL is set to take charge of his first game as England head coach this evening.

Fans across the land are eagerly anticipating the German tactician's line-up to face Albania for the Three Lions' first 2026 World Cup qualifier, the dawn of a new era.

Every man and his dog has an opinion about the national team and just to throw another perspective into the mix, allow us to present the best possible England XI as determined by this season's Dream Team points.

A quick note before we dive in, both Jude Bellingham (22 goals involvements for Real Madrid) and Harry Kane (43 goal involvements for Bayern Munich) would be among the first names included but they're currently operating outside of Dream Team's jurisdiction and have therefore been omitted – it's just a bit of fun anyway.

GOALKEEPER

• Jordan Pickford – 141 pts

A conventional start to this exercise as England's long-term No1 keeps his place.

It was a close contest though as Dean Henderson is just two points behind Pickford in the rankings with both keepers having kept ten clean sheets this season.

The Everton stopper edges it by virtue of a superior save count, 93 to 89.

DEFENDERS

• Trent Alexander-Arnold – 277 pts
• Lewis Hall – 189 pts
• Marc Guehi – 172 pts

The beautiful thing about Dream Team is that while only certain formations are permitted, gaffers don't have to worry about real-world balance.

In reality, this back three would be overly ambitious in the extreme but there may be a hint of truth to it.

Alexander-Arnold and Hall may well have been first-choice full-backs/wing-backs during this international break had they not been sidelined with injuries.

The former is Dream Team's outright best defender having contributed to 18 clean sheets, scored three goals and provided eight assists.

Newcastle's inexhaustible left-back registered seven assists before his ill-timed foot injury.

As for Guehi, he may be top of the pecking order in the centre-back department these days given John Stones continues to be dogged by fitness issues.

The 24-year-old has zoomed up the rankings lately as Crystal Palace have kept seven clean sheets in their last 11 games in all competitions.

If we were to discount injured players, Tyrick Mitchell (166 pts) and Ezri Konsa (145 pts) would make the cut.

MIDFIELDERS

• Cole Palmer – 268 pts
• Morgan Rogers – 231 pts
• James Maddison – 229 pts
• Bukayo Saka – 224 pts
• Phil Foden – 221 pts

Once again, the balance is off but it's a fun combination on paper.

Palmer may have gone off the boil in recent weeks but his tally of 14 goals and nine assists remains hugely impressive.

Interestingly, this exercise suggests Rogers is worthy of place in Tuchel's starting XI.

The Aston Villa midfielder has come of age this season, as evidenced by the fact he ranks fifth among players in his position.

Maddison has not been included in the official squad and it's curious a player of considerable talent has played just 374 minutes for England to date.

Ange Postecoglou isn't shy of dropping the creative playmaker either but his output of 21 goal involvements at a rate of one every 106.6 minutes speaks for itself.

Amazingly, Saka still ranks eighth among Dream Team midfielders despite the fact he hasn't played since before Christmas!

As for Foden, he's been unable to replicate the form he displayed last season but it's a measure of his pedigree that he's still mustered a double century of points via ten goals and seven assists.

If we were to adjust for availability, Declan Rice (216 pts) and Eberechi Eze (205 pts) would replace Palmer and Saka.

STRIKERS

• Ollie Watkins – 250 pts
• Dominic Solanke – 204 pts

With Kane out of the picture we end up with a strike partnership that would probably work well in reality.

Watkins and Solanke have 26 goals and 23 assists between them this season – they rank fifth and 11th respectively among all strikers in terms of total points.

Aston Villa's main man is resting his troublesome knee this international break and so Jarrod Bowen (195 pts) is next in line among available forwards.

West Ham's talisman averages a goal or assist every 147.4 minutes this season – an excellent effort given the Hammers are languishing in 16th in the Premier League table.

Give us a call if you want to discuss things further, Thomas!