Having made the perfect start to their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 5-0 win against San Marino at Wembley, England have a spring in their step ahead of their next two matches against Albania and Poland.
The San Marino game may not have been much of a spectacle, but it allowed Gareth Southgate to field an experimental line-up and give opportunities to players on the fringes of his squad ahead of the Euros.
James Ward-Prowse and Ollie Watkins scored their first goals in international football, Dominic Calvert-Lewin nicked his first brace, teenager Jude Bellingham got a decent run-out and, after two years in the wilderness, Jesse Lingard made his long-awaited comeback.
It certainly wasn’t a wasted evening as far as they were concerned and, all in all, Southgate can be pleased with a businesslike performance that hinted at England’s strength in depth.
Next up, England travel to Tirana to take on Albania. Coached by former Atalanta, Lazio and Napoli manager Edoardo Reja, they are the only other side in Group I with a perfect record having beaten Andorra 1-0 in their opening game.
The two sides last met in 2001, when England were still managed by Sven-Goran Eriksson. England have won all four of their competitive encounters and, with Albania currently 66th in the FIFA world rankings, they are overwhelming favourites.
That said, Albania represent a tougher test than San Marino. With Napoli full-back Elseid Hysaj, Roma centre-back Marash Kumbulla and Chelsea youngster Armando Broja among their star players, they have ambitions of reaching the World Cup for the first time ever.
Southgate is expected to field a more familiar team at the Air Albania Stadium, with Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Declan Rice in line for a recall.
He will not be able to call on Marcus Rashford, however, after he returned to Manchester United with a foot injury.
Rashford joins Bukayo Saka on the sidelines, with the Arsenal youngster nursing a hamstring issue.
Other than that, Southgate has plenty of options to choose from. With an even tougher game against Poland on Wednesday evening, he will want to make sure that his strongest XI have been put through their paces.
How to watch Albania vs England
- Date: Sunday 28 March
- Venue: Air Albania Stadium
- Kick off: 5pm
- TV channel and live stream: ITV1 and ITV Hub
- Radio: BBC Radio 5 Live
England squad in full
Goalkeepers
- Nick Pope
- Dean Henderson
- Sam Johnstone
Defenders
- Ben Chilwell
- Conor Coady
- Eric Dier
- Reece James
- Harry Maguire
- Tyrone Mings
- Luke Shaw
- John Stones
- Kieran Trippier
- Kyle Walker
Midfielders
- Jude Bellingham
- Phil Foden
- Jesse Lingard
- Mason Mount
- Kalvin Phillips
- Declan Rice
- James Ward-Prowse
Forwards
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin
- Harry Kane
- Marcus Rashford (unavailable)
- Bukayo Saka (unavailable)
- Raheem Sterling
- Ollie Watkins
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3sFY4yE
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