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With six wins in six games, an unbreached defense and a World Cup spot assured before the final rounds, England manager Thomas Tuchel can argue he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Yet, in the build-up to Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he said that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the identical lineup.

"Presently, if we maintain the formation, they are unable to feature.

"They can but not within this system, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not in this formation that also includes wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From automatic picks to contested places

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but Tuchel's selections indicate that the Barcelona loanee and Bukayo Saka are his preferred options on the wing positions respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

The previous England manager certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven matches at the European Championship in Germany, where the national squad were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 matches the stars have performed together, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and lost three, scoring 36 times and allowing 14 goals.

Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options

Tuchel has utilized a 4-2-3-1 formation that changes shape when England attack.

The Aston Villa player has been the key creative force because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and skill in entering the penalty area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring natural flank operators. Saka and Gordon consistently operate in wide areas and can maintain possession effectively, take their full-back on, and enter the area to finish.

In midfield behind the attackers, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of one defensively strict player and a partner with attacking liberty to join the forward movement.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with attacking alternatives for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could feature as the main forward, which potentially could enable both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is one way all three could feature together and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"With his club, he functions as a central or attacking midfielder, so potentially in future we consider him as a number eight," he said.

Foden has been deployed in a versatile central position this season.

That has permitted him to contribute from midfield and could make him an option as the number eight, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then allow Bellingham to play as the creative force and Kane as the striker.

No matter whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the World Cup, what seems encouraging is his preparedness to omit established stars in the name of balance.