James Benge

@LoveBerg10kamp Some good points here. I like the Alex Scott shout and yeah I hadn't considered Livramento's injury record as much as I ought to. Maybe taking Garner gives you a smash glass in emergency RB. It's definitely fiddly (and fun) rounding out the last six-ish players.

@jamesbenge I don’t see how you can take 3 injury prone players in defence in Stones, Reece & Tino Tino misses out for me My brain can’t justify taking this version of Foden Eze’s eyes are open now Welbeck looks even better after these friendlies Sneaky feeling Alex Scott goes

My best prediction at the 26 Thomas Tuchel will opt for. The last two or three spots are the sort of headache managers dream of. Not the group I'd personally pick, think I'd swap out Foden for Watkins. It feels like two from Foden, Eze, Palmer, Bowen. cbssports.com/soccer/news/en…

48 teams, 495 permutations for third place finishers, 104 matches. You’d have to be a fool to try to predict every game, every scoreline at the World Cup. A complete and utter fool. cbssports.com/soccer/news/20…

@j_brimicombe @TumbleweedChase You're not wrong and I can definitely see why you think Palmer wouldn't go. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't. Having said that, I think he profiles well as a guy you turn to when you need to change the game in attack. Even Tuchel will probably have a go for broke moment.

@TumbleweedChase @jamesbenge They all are. When he lost the ball last night he stood and watched as they ran away from him. You think Tuchel wants plays that do that given the style he plays?

Chelsea have publicly announced that for the financial year 2024-25 they made a pre-tax loss of £262.4m, the largest in English football history, despite revenue of nearly half a billion (£490.9m). Full accounts have not yet been published.

If you were born on the day Italy last won a World Cup knockout game, you’d be older than Lamine Yamal

Cristante on a bike, it’s all going wrong

Hard to feel deeply worried by England’s attacking struggles tonight when that frontline seems so unlikely to start the important minutes at the World Cup. But I would worry that Tuchel thinks his best Kane alternates are Solanke and Foden learning on the job.

Hey @wembleystadium, can we call this early and get the Italy game up on the big screens?

@Psnjellybelly Sensational

@jamesbenge Omg it’s glorious

If anyone asks I’m here for England vs. Japan. But if anyone sees those Japan warm up jerseys on sale, let me know.

Ben White’s name draws a quite sizeable number of boos ahead of kick off. Cheers too, it must be said. That he’s being booed for a personal decision he made ought to be more baffling than it is.

@Psnjellybelly Not quite, although I rate. But the Kirin branding on this 👌

@jamesbenge This one James?

@LFCCans @oeste I didn’t say he couldn’t run. Super, ultra, hyper normal reaction from you chief.

@jamesbenge @oeste He ran off the pitch you twat

I don’t doubt there’s a few Arsenal players who’ve withdrawn from games they could have played. Generally think that’s just a smart decision from the player and federation. This one, though, I’d dig out the clip if you can. It *looks* worrying for Hincapie.

It’s harder than you’d think to draw sweeping conclusions from the raft of Arsenal withdrawals from international duty. Maybe the one big picture fact is that players whose club and country would benefit from them resting are doing just that. cbssports.com/soccer/news/ar…

@oeste This is why I'm such a flop at parties

@jamesbenge james, i know your job is to report the news and you’re very good at it, but if you could stop bringing bad reports for arsenal i would super appreciate it my brother.

Martin Zubimendi has withdrawn from the Spain squad due to "discomfort in his right knee"

Hincapie seemed to be in discomfort in the 70th minute of Ecuador's 1-1 draw with Morocco. After a recovery run he appeared to signal to the bench that he needed to come off and then sat down on the turf.

Following medical tests, Piero Hincapie has withdrawn from the Ecuador squad ahead of their friendly against the Netherlands.