Thomas Tuchel will attend his first Premier League fixtures as England manager this weekend, starting with Tottenham vs Newcastle on Saturday (12.30pm GMT).

Former Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss Tuchel was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October, with his contract starting on January 1.

Tuchel will be joined by assistant coach Anthony Barry, goalkeeping coach Henrique Hilario, performance coach Nicolas Mayer and analyst James Melbourne in his role.

Ahead of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley Stadium in March, here are six players Tuchel may be keeping a close eye on at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.James Maddison

James Maddison (Tottenham)

Playmaker Maddison won his last England cap at Newcastle’s home in June, making a 29-minute substitute appearance in the 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Three Lions’ final friendly before Euro 2024.

Maddison, who travelled to the 2022 World Cup injured and was an unused substitute in Qatar after recovering, said that “devastated doesn’t quite cut it” after he was omitted by Southgate for the tournament in Germany, although he acknowledged that he had not enjoyed the strongest of 2023/24 seasons with Spurs.

The 28-year-old has avoided the injuries that have troubled him during previous campaigns so far in 2024/25, contributing eight goals and four assists in 19 Premier League appearances. He has, however, started on the bench in five of Tottenham’s last 10 league games.

Tino Livramento (Newcastle)

Right-back Livramento played for England at youth levels before being called up for the first time when interim manager Lee Carsley oversaw Nations League fixtures in October.

The 22-year-old made a memorable debut by playing throughout the 5-0 win over the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on November 17 and has featured in all 18 of Newcastle’s league games this season, starting 14 times.

Livramento had started 10 top-flight matches in a row before missing their 3-0 home win over Aston Villa on December 26 through illness. He returned from the bench at Manchester United four days later and will hope to be back in the starting line-up for Tuchel’s scrutiny, with the Magpies aiming to record a fifth successive league clean sheet.

Anthony Gordon (Newcastle)

Named player of the tournament in England’s Euro Under-21 triumph in 2023, winger Gordon made his senior debut in March and played for a minute at Euro 2024.

Carsley, who was the manager responsible for that under-21 title, started Gordon in five of his six games in charge, with the 23-year-old scoring his first England goal against the Republic of Ireland.

Gordon has started on all but one occasion when he has been available for Newcastle this season, providing four of his five assists and one of his four goals so far in the campaign during their last five matches. Tottenham may have even more cause to be wary, given his added motivation to impress Tuchel.

Lewis Hall (Newcastle)

Hall and Tuchel know each other well from their time at Chelsea, for whom the German gave the academy product his debut as a 17-year-old in an FA Cup tie against Chesterfield in January 2022, making him the club’s youngest ever starter in the competition.

“I remember his sessions were really good,” Hall said of Tuchel, speaking to the Football Association in December. “A lot 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 kick on.”

The left-back made his England debut as a half-time substitute in a 3-0 win in Greece in November and played throughout the thrashing of the Republic of Ireland three days later. He has been almost ever-present in the league for Newcastle since late September, including two assists in their last four top-flight matches.

Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)

Tottenham’s £65 million summer signing from Bournemouth will be hoping not to face another extraordinarily long wait for his next cap, having finally added to his solitary international appearance – made more than seven years ago – with two brief substitute outings in October and November.

The England youth player of the year for 2014, Solanke is a European champion at under-17 level and an Under-20 World Cup winner, but his prolific form for the Cherries was not enough to entice Southgate to give him senior recognition.

The 27-year-old has 10 goals and five assists in 25 Spurs appearances this season, although Maddison, Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins and Ipswich Town leading marksman Liam Delap are among the English players to have outscored him in the Premier League.

Harvey Barnes (Newcastle)

Winger Barnes was capped by Southgate while he was with former club Leicester City, coming on as a substitute in a friendly against Wales in October 2020.

After joining Newcastle for around £38 million in July 2023, the former international at under-20 and under-21 level missed much of last season through a foot injury, returning with three goals and two assists in their final 10 league matches.

Barnes scored the last of his five goals so far this season in the 4-2 defeat at Brentford on December 7 and has featured as a substitute in each of Newcastle’s five consecutive wins since then. The 27-year-old scored for the Foxes against Tuchel’s Chelsea in August 2022.




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