The left-back role doesn’t have a clear favorite.

Tuchel has tried Djed Spence, Tino Livramento, Myles Lewis-Skelly, James and Nico O’Reilly in the position, but none have truly stood out as a preferred option.

Spence, Livramento and James are more often deployed at right-back, while Lewis-Skelly hasn’t started a league game for Arsenal this season. 

However, the latter has been a preferred pick for Tuchel, starting five games under the German. Tellingly, though, Lewis-Skelly was left out of the squad in November, likely because of his lack of action at club level. 

Instead, Nico O’Reilly was called up for those fixtures, with the 20-year-old starting seven Premier League games for Manchester City during the 2025-26 campaign, scoring once and providing two assists. 

O’Reilly now has two starts for England, but with the tournament a little over six months away, he doesn’t have a lot of time to make the position his own at international level. 

Dan Burn has started nine games at left-back for Newcastle this season, and he could be an option. However, it speaks volumes that the 6’6″ defender hasn’t been tested in the position by Tuchel despite a rotating cast of characters. 

For now, O’Reilly looks like he will line up at left-back in the summer, but that could change in a heartbeat.