Nico O’Reilly’s perfect week could yet get better
Nico O’Reilly scored twice as Manchester City won the Carabao Cup at Wembley on Sunday and he now has a chance to nail down his England starting spot.
Nico O’Reilly scored twice for Manchester City and will now join up with England for the upcoming international break
Nico O’Reilly has just had the greatest weekend of his life. An England call-up, his 21st birthday and two goals at Wembley to earn Manchester City a 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final.
As a boyhood Blue that will be hard to top, but something that might would be achieving similar for England at the World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel’s left-back headache has been a topic of wide debate for the length of his England tenure. O’Reilly has two caps under the German, playing 180 minutes across consecutive 2-0 wins over Serbia and Albania.
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He has a host of rivals for the spot in Dan Burn, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, and Djed Spence but if club form is the then O’Reilly sits top of the list, perhaps closely rivalled by Hall.
O’Reilly has become a key cog in Guardiola’s ever-transforming framework, depicting the role of both an attacking full-back and a box-crashing midfielder. At Wembley, Guardiola tinkered his side’s tactical dynamic in and out of possession – and as great players do – O’Reilly executed his role to perfection.
Both his goals were similar close-range headers following a late run into the box using his height and power. Tuchel has previously worked with similar moulds of left-back in the past too. Tall and powerful have been consistent traits the German has valued in club football.
The likes of Marcos Alonso, Alphonso Davies, and Mitchel Bakker have all fitted that bill at respective clubs – and O’Reilly could well be the leading contender for that role in Tuchel’s first major tournament as England manager.
English left backs have entered what feels like a drag race down the final straight. With Newcastle and Tottenham struggling in recent weeks, O’Reilly is in pole position to start the first game of the World Cup against Croatia come June.
England’s 2026 World Cup kits
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