England player ratings vs Czechia: Classy Trent, Gordon and Hall shine, Saka wasteful | OneFootball

England faced Czechia in their second UEFA Nations League tie of 2026/27 on Tuesday evening, days after losing 3-2 to world champions Spain at Wembley.

Our player ratings for the Spain match are here. Now, it’s time for our player ratings in Tuesday’s 1-0 win in Prague.

We loved what we saw from Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall, while Trent Alexander-Arnold was very Trent Alexander-Arnold as he returned to the England starting XI.

James Trafford

In for his second competitive appearance in a row, Trafford had a quiet night but produced the goods whenever he was called upon. Made a big stop to deny Pavel Sulc very early on, coming out confidently to thwart the attacker. Also looked confident as ever when commanding his box and distributing quickly. After conceding three to Spain in his first competitive cap, Trafford keeps his first clean sheet for his country, having previously conceded a 94th-minute penalty against Uruguay in a friendly and only played 45 minutes against New Zealand in June.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

There was no bigger night for anyone in an England shirt. Alexander-Arnold made his first Three Lions start under Thomas Tuchel and staked a claim with Reece James not in the squad. He didn’t look too assured when tasked with winning a 50-50 but was as dangerous as ever with the ball at his feet, providing a sublime assist for England’s opening goal, scored by Anthony Gordon.

Is anyone else in the England team capable of producing that cross? Harry Kane is, but would he be in that position? James can too, but he’s so often unavailable and wasn’t versus Czechia. The delivery was inch-perfect but not an easy header to convert, making the finish just about as impressive as the assist. Lee Dixon made a good point on co-commentary that Trent is more useful when the game is in front of him; he is a very attacking right-back who gets less effective when essentially playing as a wing-back. Still, the former Liverpool defender proved his worth to Tuchel on a night when he couldn’t afford to waste his opportunity.

Trevoh Chalobah

It was interesting to see Chalobah start over Jarrad Branthwaite. Only misplaced one of his 79 passes. Not much else to report, really. Relatively untested in an England shirt thus far.

Marc Guehi

An important headed clearance that resulted in a zipping volley on the edge of the box was Guehi’s first involvement. Unlike Chalobah, he misplaced two passes all night, the bloody fraud. A clean sheet against a sticky opposition can be attributed to Czechia being down to ten men for 65 minutes, but the two starting centre-backs will be delighted not to concede.

Lewis Hall

Many believe Hall and Alexander-Arnold should be England’s starting full-backs, and there was definitely more cohesion on the left than there was on the right. You can tell Anthony Gordon and Hall have played together at club level. Forget this being England’s two best full-backs; this should be England’s left-hand side, which is a shame for the brilliant Nico O’Reilly, but the chemistry is brilliant. Hall came close to scoring when receiving a Gordon pull-back in the box.

Elliot Anderson (off for Scott)

Took a bad one from Sulc that the referee gave as a yellow card, went to review and overturned it to a red card, completely changing the game and giving England the ability to control proceedings. He wasn’t bad, but he definitely wasn’t at his best. Something else on your mind, fella?

Myles Lewis-Skelly (off for Eze)

A late tackle saw Lewis-Skelly booked in the first half and that was surely the excuse Tuchel needed to go more attacking at half-time, bringing Arsenal friend Eberechi Eze on for him as England chased an opening goal against their depleted hosts.

Morgan Rogers

Struck the post in the first half when he chose to shoot rather than lay it off. Produced some decent link-up play with his fellow attackers but probably should have done more against 10-man opposition.

Bukayo Saka (off for Ngumoha)

Took one of the worst shots ever after four minutes. Should have scored from a rebound with the goalkeeper scampering, but shot straight at the defender. His final product was abysmal. We blame Mikel Arteta for this version of Saka.

Anthony Gordon (off for Gibbs-White)

Looked sharp and confident all night and got his reward two minutes into the second half when he nodded in Trent’s beautiful cross. As we said, it was a big chance, but not a sitter; Gordon’s header was improvised and clever, across the flat-footed goalkeeper’s goal, making it three goals in his last four England appearances. We would like to reiterate that his relationship with former Newcastle United team-mate Hall makes a compelling case for this being Tuchel’s first-choice left-hand side.

Harry Kane (off for Bellingham)

Was relatively quiet all night but popped up with a clinical left-footed finish to finish off Czechia. It was low, hard and very difficult for the goalkeeper to stop going in at the far post.

Eberechi Eze (on for Lewis-Skelly, 46)

Came on at half-time for his cautioned Arsenal team-mate as Tuchel showed his intentions against the 10-man Czechs. Unlucky not to score, but his volley was palmed away expertly by Matej Kovar.

Jude Bellingham (on for Kane, 70)

One of three 71st-minute substitutes having been given a rare rest. Didn’t do much when he came on, but the game was already done and dusted, so who cares?

Rio Ngumoha (on for Saka, 70)

Made his competitive debut after an exciting friendly appearance against New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up game. Looked bright and confident on the first of what should be many, many England appearances.

Alex Scott (on for Anderson, 70)

Another competitive debut! Looked very busy, especially off the ball, doing everything to get it back in England’s possession. Had a couple of good moments on the ball as well, including a bursting run through the middle which led to a shot from range that went wide. Another player destined to rack up plenty of senior caps.

Morgan Gibbs-White (on for Gordon, 80)

Got the last ten minutes plus stoppage time, making it two appearances in two games so far this international break, which is good for a player who wasn’t called up initially. It still wasn’t enough time to stake a claim for a starting spot, so he will still be behind Rogers and Eze in the pecking order.