VOTE: Djed Spence, Ezri Konsa or a World Cup wildcard - who should Thomas Tuchel pick at right-back for England last-32 tie against DR Congo?

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Injuries to Reece James, Jarrell Quansah and Tino Livramento, combined with Thomas Tuchel's snub of Trent Alexander-Arnold, means that England have no specialist right-backs available for their 2026 FIFA World Cup clash with DR Congo - so who should start?

'No one could see that coming' - Tuchel on James injury

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Tuchel took a major gamble when excluding Real Madrid's Alexander-Arnold, and calling up Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah, when an injury forced Livramento to withdraw from the squad.

That left James as the only specialist at the position in Tuchel's 26-man party, but he then picked up a hamstring issue ahead of the final group match that is predicted to sideline him for at least two games.

Though Tuchel said "no one could see" an injury coming for James - the bottom line is England now head into a knockout game requiring either a centre-back or left-back to cover there.

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And Tuchel's preferred deputy, Jarell Quansah, twisted his ankle playing the position against Panama.

As such, the England boss will be forced to reshuffle once again against DR Congo.

So who starts at right-back for the Three Lions in the Round of 32?

Konsa v Spence

Djed Spence is the obvious choice, having actually played more at right-back than on the left side in his club career, though many of his appearances in the position came earlier in his career.

James out injured but Saka and Rice fully fit, Tuchel confirms

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Last season, for Tottenham Hotspur, he only clocked up 133 league minutes there, so the direction of travel in his career is clear.

However, if Saka is to start at right wing for England, then Spence would complement him very well.

Unlike Saka, Spence is right-footed, so he would provide a natural crossing option, and he could overlap to stretch the defence on that side and open up space for the Arsenal superstar to cut inside and wreak havoc in the penalty area.

Meanwhile, Spence is one of the fastest players at the World Cup - clocking a top speed of 35.2km/h against Croatia that made him the joint-seventh quickest player in the opening round of fixtures, ahead of Kylian Mbappe.

That could be very useful given many of DR Congo's best chances against Portugal (their most similar group opponents to England) came on the break as the favourites scrambled back.

However, a full-back pairing of Spence and Nico O'Reilly would be very aggressive, and leave more defensive responsibilities for England's midfielders, which is perhaps why Tuchel opted for Quansah instead of Spence against Panama.

The vogue now, pioneered by Pep Guardiola with Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake and Abdukodir Khusanov, is for one forward-thinking full-back, and one who can slot into a back three when in possession.

And Konsa would be the best fit for that system.

Konsa doesn't possess the positional experience, athleticism and attacking instincts of Spence, but he could free O'Reilly, plus Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson or whoever starts in England's pivot, to play their natural game.

The Aston Villa rock actually won his first three caps for England at right-back, and played 90 minutes there as recently as September, against Wales. He's also lined up on the right 44 times for Aston Villa, and that was his main position in the 2023/24 campaign.

Could Stones or Chalobah be the wildcard?

Konsa is the only England outfielder to play every minute of the 2026 World Cup so far, having partnered first John Stones, then Marc Guehi at the heart of The Three Lions' defence.

So if Tuchel doesn't want to disrupt that, could he hand Chalobah his second cap to solve the problem instead?

The 26-year-old has 25 appearances under his belt at right-back in total.

Meanwhile, John Stones has played at right-back 65 times during his distinguished career, though he has the most mobility question marks out of the quartet, and hasn't played there for England since 2014.

So who do you want to see starting at right-back for England against DR Congo?

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