"Gonna be an easy win", "Finally benched" - Fans react as 24-year-old star dropped from England XI for Finland clash

Fans on social media are delighted with Lee Carsley's decision to drop Phil Foden from the starting XI of England's UEFA Nations League clash with Finland on Sunday, October 13. The Three Lions are set to lock horns with their Finnish counterpart at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

The 24-year-old Manchester City star has been in poor form recently and failed to impress in their 2-1 loss to Greece on Thursday, October 10.

Ahead of the clash with Finland, the Three Lions revealed their starting XI on X. After a horrendous display against Greece, first-choice goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has been replaced with Dean Henderson.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Marc Guehi, John Stones, and Kyle Walker have been named as the defenders. Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Angel Gomes start in midfield. Captain Harry Kane makes a return to the starting XI and is partnered up front by Jack Grealish and Cole Palmer.

Following the release of the lineup, fans took to X to express their delight of Foden being named on the bench this time around.

"Foden on the bench, it's gonna be an easy win for England," one fan wrote.

"Foden finally benched and Pickford too," a second fan posted.

"Foden finally got dropped i used to pray for times like this," a third fan added.

"Finally they dropped that fraud foden, and added cover to rice in midfield, watch england win this game comfortably," another fan commented.

"Foden benched now watch Palmer masterclass," a user said.

England will hope to churn out a positive result this time around after the loss to Greece. They are currently second in Group B2 of the Nations League with three points from two games played.

How have England performed under Lee Carsley?

Lee Carsley was brought to lead the England national team on an interim basis after former coach Gareth Southgate stepped down from the role. In his first game, he led the Three Lions to a 2-0 victory over Ireland in their opening Nations League game.

After that, they defeated Finland 2-0 at Wembley Stadium to make it two wins on the bounce. However, in his third outing, the Euro 2024 finalist suffered a shocking 2-1 to Greece after Carsley tried out a different tactical approach.

He will hope to return his side to winning ways against Finland as they look to hold a firm lead in their Nations League group.