It was perhaps telling that Leah Williamson appeared alongside Wiegman at St George’s Park, with the captain’s place in England’s defence uncertain amid competition from Millie Bright and Alex Greenwood.

Williamson has returned from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that forced her to miss last year’s Women’s World Cup but it’s been a difficult start to the season at Arsenal, with Jonas Eidevall resigning amid a poor run of results.

“That is absolutely a headache because they are all really good and really competing for minutes,” Wiegman said when asked about the competition between Williamson, Bright and Greenwood.

“But they are absolutely the headaches I want to have, so it’s a hard decision to make.”

England meet Germany at Wembley in a repeat of the Euro 2022 final as the Lionesses will step up their preparations ahead of next summer’s European Championship defence.

As much as the Germany game on Friday night will evoke memories of England’s historic win in the Euro 2022 final, Wiegman and captain Leah Williamson underlined the importance of “moving forward” as the Lionesses build towards Euro 2025 in Switzerland.

“Of course we will always cherish that memory and it was one of the biggest moments in my career, in my life,” Wiegman said.

“We are focused on now with a different team and it’s the start of the next cycle. So many things have happened to the team since. Germany have always been a powerful team, who want to play the possession game but don’t hesitate to play the long ball either.

“They have a new coach now who might want to do different things so we’ll prepare for everything. It’s really good for us to get that experience at the highest level.”

England are without Lauren James after the Chelsea forward withdrew from the squad due to injury. Fran Kirby and Lotte Wubben-Moy are also not available for the Germany game but could return against South Africa.

Sarina Wiegman faces a number of selection dilemmas, including in goal where Hannah Hampton is competing with Mary Earps for a starting spot. There is also a decision to be made at centre-back with Leah Williamson, Millie Bright and Alex Greenwood all available.

Grace Clinton has been in good form for Manchester United this season but Ella Toone and Jess Park are also options to start alongside Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway in midfield.

In attack, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo are likely to start. Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly are available but Chelsea’s Aggie Beever-Jones is pushing for her first England start – though that may come against South Africa.

The friendly will kick off at 7:30pm BST on Friday 25 October at Wembley Stadium.

England vs Germany TV channel

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England begin the next step of their European Championship defence with a Wembley rematch against Germany, the team the Lionesses defeated to win the Euros two years ago.

Sarina Wiegman’s team booked their place in Switzerland in the summer ahead of next year’s Euro 2025 and wanted games against top-level opposition over the next two international windows.

England’s game against Germany will be followed by a meeting with South Africa in Coventry on Tuesday night, with a further double-header against the United States and Switzerland next month.

Wiegman will be assessing her options ahead of Euro 2025 and a marquee fixture against Germany will show how preparations are going heading into England’s attempts to defend their title.