England continue their Euro 2024 qualification campaign against Malta at the Ta’ Qali National Stadium this evening after winning their opening two matches back in March.
Gareth Southgate’s side beat Italy 2-1 in Naples in their opening game of the campaign and followed that up with a 2-0 victory over Ukraine at Wembley.
The Three Lions are fully expected to maintain their 100 per cent winning record when they face Malta, who have lost both of their matches so far and are ranked 171st in Fifa’s world rankings.
Southgate is expected to name an experimental team with none of Manchester City’s quintet of Champions League winners – Kyle Walker, John Stones, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden – expected to be involved from the start.
When asked what he made of City’s Treble celebrations, which were led by Grealish, Southgate responded “there is a line”, intimating that one or two of them may have crossed it.
Nevertheless, he intends to use some of them in Malta ahead of England’s second qualifier of this international break against North Macedonia on Tuesday.
How to watch Malta vs England
Date: Friday 16 June
Kick-off: 7.45pm
TV channel: Channel 4, coverage begins at 7pm
Live stream: Watch it live on All4
”I think that, as I said, I have spoken with the players. We have talked about where the focus needs to be, where we need them to be and acknowledged what they have experienced and that’s for me to manage over the coming weeks,” he said.
“I have got a good squad to pick from. We weren’t considering those boys to start this game. We were hopeful they could play some part and that is still the case.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold may be trialled in the central midfield role that he flourished in for Liverpool towards the end of last season, while James Maddison could also be given an opportunity to impress.
Crystal Palace playmaker Eberechi Eze is the only uncapped member of the squad and will be hoping to get some minutes with Southgate’s attacking options limited by Grealish and Foden’s potential absences.
Eze’s Palace colleague Marc Guehi is being tipped to earn his fourth senior cap in central defence alongside Harry Maguire who is expected to retain his starting place despite a lack of minutes for Manchester United.
Malta’s chief attacking threat is likely to come from Notts County forward Jodi Jones, who has established himself as a key member of the side since earning his first cap last September.
“To play international football is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a young boy,” Jones told i. “Obviously growing up in and being from England, it just makes it an even bigger occasion for me, all my family are coming over.
“I’ve supported England in all the tournaments and had all the kits as a kid so it seems a bit surreal. It’s very exciting but obviously on the day we have a job to do which will be very tough but I’m looking forward to it.”
The game will be shown live on Channel 4 after they won the rights to broadcast England’s Euro 2024 and Nations League matches in April last year.
Presenter Jules Breach will be joined by Joe Cole, Jill Scott and Jermain Defoe to provide analysis on the game.
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