Leeds United goalkeeper James Trafford will be handed a start for England against Spain on Sunday but Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that he is still undergoing an audition.  

Trafford has made a solid start to his Leeds United career after joining from Manchester City for a reported £45million, keeping four clean sheets in ten games and making 35 saves, which is the third-highest total across the Premier League.   

Trafford to start for England against Spain in Nations League finale

The England head coach has confirmed that Trafford will start for the Three Lions away in Spain in their final game of what has been a very busy calendar year. England will meet the world champions at the Metropolitano Stadium in a shootout to win Group A3 in the Nations League.

Speaking at Saturday night’s press conference in the Spanish capital, Tuchel said: “It’s the same thinking as in the first matches in the Nations League. We want to try and see how far Trafford is. That hasn’t changed. So he gets a highly competitive match. Tomorrow is a high-pressure match, of course, on the biggest stage, it’s exactly what we need to see where we are with him.”  

Trafford played for England against Spain in October and largely acquitted himself well at Wembley despite conceding three goals. 

Jordan Pickford remains England’s first-choice goalkeeper  

The bittersweet rub of the matter for Trafford is that Tuchel has publicly confirmed that Everton’s Jordan Pickford remains his first-choice goalkeeper for now at least. 

“We know what Jordan can do for us. Jordan is at the moment our no1. I have a very clear picture in high-pressure moments. He played in tournaments and played for me in the World Cup.”

Pickford has 94 caps for his country and has largely been a mainstay between the sticks ever since making his debut under Gareth Southgate back in November 2017.   

James Trafford’s goalkeeping statistics compared to Jordan Pickford

Clearly, Pickford is vastly more experienced than Trafford. Sunday night in Madrid will mark the Leeds star’s fifth cap for his country, almost 90 fewer than the Everton star has amassed over the past nine years.  

Statistic	James Trafford	Jordan Pickford
Appearances	10	10
Minutes Played	900	900
Clean Sheets	4	4
Saves	35	28
Save Percentage	82.2%	73.7%

Taking this season in isolation, however, Trafford is in better form. He has kept as many clean sheets, while also having produced more saves at the highest save percentage in the Premier League. 

It is still too early to suggest that Trafford is a better goalkeeper than Pickford but he is certainly worthy of his audition in what is surely England’s biggest game until the Nations League knockouts begin in the summer of 2027.