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With six wins in six games, no goals conceded and a World Cup spot secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel can argue he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Yet, in the lead-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he stated that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the equivalent formation.

"Presently, if we keep the structure, they are unable to feature.

"It's possible but not in the structure, not preserving harmony that we created and not for the structure that comes also with wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From automatic picks to contested places

England's creative talents have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but the manager's choices suggest that Marcus Rashford and Arsenal's winger are his preferred options on the wing positions respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

Gareth Southgate apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven fixtures at last summer's tournament in Germany, where the England team were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the three have featured alongside each other, England have won 10, shared points three times and been defeated three times, registering 36 scores and conceding 14.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that transforms formation when England attack.

Morgan Rogers has been the main number 10 because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, engage in one-on-one situations, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of one defensively strict player and one with more license to contribute to the attack.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against other creative midfielders for the number 10 role, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could play as the central striker, which potentially could permit both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is an alternative approach all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"At Manchester City, he operates similarly to a box-to-box or creative role, so maybe during the next months we view him as a box-to-box player," he said.

Foden has been utilized as a flexible midfielder this season.

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could position him as the central midfielder, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the striker.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the World Cup, what bodes well is his preparedness to omit established stars in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.