Madueke’s positivity and Anderson’s strong debut: Five talking points as England beat Andorra

England comfortably beat Andorra 2-0 at Villa Park to make it four wins from four in their World Cup qualifying campaign.

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice scored a second-half header following an Andorra own goal in the first half to secure victory for the Three Lions .

Our reporter Dan Bennett was at Villa Park and has picked out five talking points…

– Saturday, 6 September 2025

In a game of attack versus defence, with minnows Andorra looking to sit back and frustrate England , Noni Madueke was probably the standout player for Thomas Tuchel’s side.

His positivity and willingness to regularly drive at the Andorra defence paid off in the first half and set England on the path to victory, when his cross was diverted into the Andorra net by Christian Garcia. Players like Madueke, with his pace and directness, are key to winning games like this and he proved so.

There was a senior debut for Under-21s Euros winner Elliott Anderson, and he performed his job well as the most defensive of the midfielders. He was strong in his duels, won nearly all of his tackles and headers, and looked composed in the middle of the park. He has impressed since his move to Nottingham Forest and could well keep his place in the squad going forward.

– Saturday, 6 September 2025

Anderson playing as the deepest midfielder meant there was a clear emphasis on Rice getting forward and joining the attack. He was quite often almost level with Harry Kane as part of England’s frontline, and while it meant he saw less of the ball, it paid off in the second half when he got on the end of Reece James’ cross to head in England’s second. Rice has spoken about his desire to add more goals to his game and Tuchel has clearly seen his goalscoring potential as something which can help England .

Tuchel has brought Marcus Rashford back into the fold since taking over as the new Three Lions boss and he again started at the ground where he spent the second half of last season on loan.

He had a mixed performance, with some of his driving runs and tricks coming off and others not so much, but what was clear is how desperate he is to take advantage of the opportunity he has been given, having spent a year out of the England squad before being called up again in March.

Rashford’s attitude has been questioned in the past but he constantly tried to make things happen, dropping deeper, before he was substituted off in the second half, to try and see more of the ball. It has not quite come off for him yet but Tuchel will hope his faith in the 27-year-old is rewarded.

Barring a bad defeat to Senegal in a friendly, England have done what is required of them in their World Cup qualifiers, winning four from four and sitting top of their group. But they are still yet to really excite, with each of those four games against much lesser sides proving to be pretty unadventurous.

These clashes never lean themselves towards being thrilling affairs given that the opposition are trying to avoid embarrassment, and perhaps there is an element of England’s players conserving energy and getting the job done while not being at full throttle given the long season that is ahead, but it does feel like some of the short, sideways passing could be replaced by more searching balls forward at times.