The Thomas Tuchel era started in solid if unspectacular fashion on Friday, with England claiming a 2-0 win over Albania to kickstart their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

While Tuchel relied largely on the core of players that served the Three Lions well throughout Gareth Southgate's eight years in charge, there were a couple of surprise inclusions in his first lineup as Dan Burn and Myles Lewis-Skelly won their first caps.

Lewis-Skelly could hardly have hoped for a better start, latching onto a fine throughball from Jude Bellingham to score a 20th-minute opener and etch his name in the record books.

Aged 18 years and 176 days, the Arsenal full-back became the youngest player to score on his senior England debut, surpassing Marcus Rashford's record of 18 years and 209 days against Australia back in May 2016.

Harry Kane later added a second goal as Tuchel became the 11th permanent England manager in a row to win his first game in charge.

With Serbia not starting their campaign until June, the Three Lions now have a chance to put real distance between themselves and their main Group K rivals.

Will Tuchel make it two wins from as many matches when Latvia visit Wembley on Monday? Here, we look ahead to the game with our Opta-powered preview.

What's expected?

England, fourth in the FIFA World Rankings, made light work of the team ranked 65th in Albania, so it is no surprise that they are heavy favourites to overcome 140th-ranked Latvia.

Tuchel's men were victorious in 94% of the Opta supercomputer's 10,000 pre-match simulations, losing in only 2% and drawing in 4%.

The Three Lions are unbeaten in their last 32 World Cup qualifiers following Friday's victory (24 wins, eight draws), the longest ongoing run of any European nation. 

Latvia, though, are unbeaten in their last three World Cup qualifiers, having drawn 0-0 with Norway and beaten Gibraltar 3-1 to finish their unsuccessful bid to reach Qatar 2022.

They last went more games without defeat in World Cup qualifiers between October 2008 and September 2009 (five matches) – their return of 17 points in that qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup was the best in their history.

So, perhaps this will not be quite as easy as it looks on paper for England.

Tuchel wants more from his wide players

There was plenty of pre-game interest in how Tuchel would line England up against Albania, particularly after the former Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich coach said the Three Lions lacked an identity at Euro 2024.

Tuchel declared that his team would play with the kind of physicality and dynamism seen in the Premier League, though Albania's ultra-defensive approach made that tough on Friday.

There was little opportunity to see Tuchel's trademark high press in action as Albania sat 11 men behind the ball, and England had to remain patient in their approach play.

Their 437 successful passes in the first half of the game were their most in the first half of any match on record with Opta in any competition.

Their total of 863 passes (811 completed) by full-time was also England's fifth-most on record in any World Cup qualifier. Only against San Marino (three times, once in 2012 and twice in 2021) and Malta (in 2016) have they played more passes in a qualifier.

But Tuchel declared after the match that England needed more from their wingers, saying Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden were "not as decisive as they can be" and calling on them to be more direct.

Rashford attempted (five) and completed (three) more dribbles than any other player on the pitch against Albania, though he only created one chance and failed to attempt a single shot. 

With Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon suffering a hip injury late on, Rashford could get another opportunity on Monday, but he will need to improve his end product.

Foden, meanwhile, has struggled to find his best form in an England shirt for some time, going 17 international appearances without a goal or an assist since netting in a 3-1 friendly victory over Scotland in September 2023. 

His starting spot could be under threat, and Tuchel has alternatives available. West Ham's Jarrod Bowen has created 18 chances following carries in the Premier League this season, with Cole Palmer (23) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (19) the only English players to record more.

Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers is another option, and his 59 take-on ending carries are the joint-most by any English player in the Premier League this term, alongside Ipswich Town's Omari Hutchinson.

Latvia will certainly follow Albania's lead by sitting deep, and England's attackers may have to take more risks in one-on-one situations to avoid a frustrating outing. 

Can Latvia tame the Three Lions?

This will be the first-ever meeting between England and Latvia, who are embarking on their first qualification campaign under former Italy youth coach Paolo Nicolato.

They got off to a good start with Friday's 1-0 win in Andorra, as Dario Sits' goal near the hour mark ended their four-game winless run in all competitions (one draw, three losses).

Latvia have never qualified for a World Cup, with Euro 2004 representing the only major tournament appearance in their history, while they also finished bottom of a Nations League group containing North Macedonia, Armenia and the Faroe Islands last year.

They only managed one win in Euro 2024 qualifying, losing their other seven games in Group D, while their five goals scored were fewer than all but eight of the 52 other teams involved. 

Latvia also shipped 19 goals from 18.79 expected goals against (xGA) – more than the likes of Luxembourg (16.47), Malta (15.63) and Andorra (16.97) allowed their opponents. 

However, narrow defeats to Turkiye (2-3), Wales (0-1), Poland (0-2) and Croatia (0-2) at least saw them put in respectable performances, so they might well have the ability to frustrate England, at least for part of the match.

Nicolato set Latvia up with three central defenders in Andorra, so Tuchel will expect to come up against a flat back five on Monday. Patience may be required from the Wembley crowd.

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

England – Harry Kane

Kane tucked home to score his 70th senior England goal in the second half of Friday's victory. 

Only seven other players still active at the international level have passed the 70-goal mark for their countries, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Romelu Lukaku, Robert Lewandowski and Neymar among them.

That strike also made Kane the first England player to score on his first appearance under three different managers (Roy Hodgson, Southgate and Tuchel), while he has now netted 41 times in 36 appearances in qualifying for major tournaments (World Cup/Euros).

Latvia – Vladislavs Gutkovskis

Gutkovskis has 11 senior international goals, though he has not netted for his country since September 2022, in a 1-1 Nations League draw in Andorra.

The striker, who has two goals in 10 outings for Daejeon Hana Citizen in the K League 1 this year, scored five times for Latvia in their 2022-23 Nations League campaign, with only Erling Haaland and Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring more (six apiece) overall.

He will likely have his work cut out for much of Monday's encounter, but Latvia will be looking for him to take any chances that do come his way.