Lille star Gomes leads England hopefuls looking to impress Tuchel at Anfield

He may not be treated to a clinic from any of his big players like Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham or Cole Palmer, but new England manager Thomas Tuchel could gain valuable insight from sitting down at Anfield on Tuesday.

He will be in charge of his first Three Lions match – at home to Albania – in two months' time from Tuesday and there are plenty of English fringe players who could get minutes when Liverpool take on French side Lille, looking to confirm their place in the top eight of the Champions League.

One of these was the wildcard pick of Lee Carsley's short but powerful reign as boss: Angel Gomes. The Manchester United academy player would probably have often dreamed of competing against Liverpool at Anfield as a boy, but perhaps not in the colors of Lille.

United fans may long for what could have been. Gomes is a technically gifted midfielder, skilled on the ball, but also tactically sharp in possession – exactly what Ruben Amorim's beleaguered team has long lacked.

He was recently in England, at a training camp at Ashton United with respected personal coach Ryan Hopper, alongside Jesse Lingard and United women's player Gabby George. Gomes, 24, headed into that session in a Lille jersey and England tracksuit bottoms.

It shows his willingness to keep learning and improving his fitness as he had a two-week winter break in France. Although he is only 6ft tall, he makes up for this with his brains and has cited other diminutive stars Andres Iniesta and Bernardo Silva as inspirations.

He is flourishing at Lille with 130 appearances to his name and it feels as if United have let a potential homegrown hero slip away. He replaced Wayne Rooney in May 2017, becoming the first player born in the 2000s to appear in the top flight, as well as United's youngest debutant since Duncan Edwards.

“It's not something I wanted,” he said of the “wonderkid” tag that followed him after that day at Old Trafford. He has now found his feet and former Lille boss Paulo Fonseca once called him 'the most intelligent player' he had ever seen.

Liverpool's Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott are also on the periphery of the England squad. Jones in particular feels like a shoo-in for Tuchel's first squad as he has the box-to-box, energetic style that the German favors.

Liverpool will have to make do without striker Diogo Jota for the visit of the French team. According to boss Arne Slot, Jota has 'overworked' a muscle after recently recovering from a two-month layoff with a separate problem.

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