The £105m Arsenal midfielder was not at Wembley on Tuesday. England did not look as though they noticed.

Elliot Anderson and Myles Lewis-Skelly started together in a double pivot, Harry Kane scored twice on his record-equalling 125th cap, and Czechia were brushed aside. It came three days after Thomas Tuchel’s side had won 7-0 away to Croatia in the same group, with Anderson again at the base of the midfield. Rice withdrew from the squad with a fitness issue at the start of the international window and has watched both matches from the sidelines.

Lewis-Skelly’s data from the Czechia game was the kind that forces a selection debate. He completed 53 of 58 passes and led the entire pitch for duels won (six), dribbles completed (three) and fouls won (three). Anderson, who has started every one of England’s matches without Rice this window, finished the Croatia game with an assist and ran another one in London.

Tuchel has been careful not to let that read as a demotion in waiting. Pressed on the midfield after the Croatia win, where Bournemouth’s Alex Scott had made his first senior start alongside Anderson, the England manager made a point of restating Rice’s standing.

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“Declan knows about his importance, and he’s one of the very best midfielders in Europe. Nothing will change that,” Tuchel told reporters.

That protection does not change the arithmetic. In Rice’s absence Tuchel has used three different partners alongside Anderson across the current window and the Nations League opener, and England have put ten unanswered goals past Croatia and Czechia in the space of 72 hours.

The constant is Anderson, not Rice

The one name Tuchel has not changed is Anderson. He has started every match since Rice withdrew, and his range of passing has been the backbone of a build-up that used to be routed through the Arsenal man. Lewis-Skelly, who plays alongside Rice at club level, has now started twice in the same role.

After Tuesday’s win Tuchel did not single out individuals, but the undertone was obvious.

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“Yeah, always on a high level, it is difficult to nominate the squad,” he said.

The official England team sheet listed the pivot as Anderson and Lewis-Skelly, with Jude Bellingham operating further forward in a line of three behind Kane. Vladimír Coufal diverted a Kane cross into his own net on 27 minutes, Kane headed in on 40 and converted a Lewis Hall corner on 57 to pass 90 England goals and equal Peter Shilton’s 125-cap record on the same night.

Rice is expected back for Arsenal’s Premier League meeting with Leeds at the Emirates on Saturday, 10 October. The next England camp, Tuchel’s first chance to pick his No. 6 back in next to Anderson, is a month away.

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