Leeds United
Thomas Tuchel. (Credit: Imago)
England take on Uruguay tonight, with Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin potentially being involved in the game at Wembley.
Everyone associated with Leeds was delighted for Calvert-Lewin, who recently received his first international call-up in five years after a productive debut campaign at Elland Road so far.
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Leeds fans will also be watching the game in anticipation tonight to get a glimpse of United legend Marcelo Bielsa, who is now the Uruguay manager and will come up against Leeds’ number nine.
However, England manager Thomas Tuchel has issued a stern message to Calvert-Lewin ahead of the international friendly, which will likely help the German decide who he will take to the World Cup with him this summer.
Thomas Tuchel prepared to offer Calvert-Lewin a ‘big chance’ to impress
Calvert-Lewin is not the only Leeds player to receive an international call-up, with Dan James recently impressing for Wales as they lost their World Cup playoff semi-final game against Bosnia on penalties.
Ahead of the Three Lions’ clash with Uruguay at Wembley, Tuchel spoke in his press conference about how this was an ideal opportunity for Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke to impress, with England captain Harry Kane not in the camp for the upcoming game.
“It’s important the two of them understand it’s a big chance to be in camp without Harry, to compete for a real chance to start and get good quality minutes.
“Harry is Harry, our captain. A starter for us. The question is, if we are chasing a result, do we really take Harry off? When is there a chance to be a sub for Harry? Or do we look for someone who will play with Harry? Or someone who is a good penalty taker? These are the questions we have to answer.”
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49ers will hope that Calvert-Lewin makes the World Cup squad
From a Leeds perspective, if Calvert-Lewin is able to make the World Cup squad, that will only be a positive for the Whites as it will mean the striker has likely added to his tally of 10 Premier League goals this season.
For the 49ers, a call-up to the World Cup squad would only increase Calvert-Lewin’s value further after they were able to secure his services for free last summer.
Whilst the Whites will not be planning to sell their talisman anytime soon, his value going up would only be a positive for them.
However, to ensure Calvert-Lewin secures his place on the plane this summer, he must end his barren run of six games in a row without scoring.
Calvert-Lewin has gone 502 minutes without scoring for Leeds
Luckily for him, Solanke has only managed three Premier League goals this season
Solanke has scored just one goal in his last seven Premier League outings (Sofascore)
The game against Uruguay would be the perfect time for Calvert-Lewin to get back to his scoring ways to leave Tuchel with a positive impression of him and to ensure he returns to West Yorkshire full of confidence.
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