With qualification already assured, Gareth Southgate aim to finish their Euro qualifying campaign on a high as they take on Kosovo at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium, Pristina.
Kosovo come here looking to finish their qualifying campaign on a high ahead of March’s Play-Offs, whilst England will be looking to continue their preparations for the main tournament next summer after Thursday’s dominant win.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesKosovo have a full squad available with no fresh injury concerns to report following Thursday’s defeat to the Czech Republic.
England will be without the Liverpool duo of Jordan Henderson and Joe Gomez due to a respective viral infection and knock.
Stat Attack
- England won their only previous meeting with Kosovo as they ran out 5-3 winners in Southampton in September.
- Three more goals for England’s Harry Kane would see him become the highest scoring player in a single Euro Qualifying tournament, beating Robert Lewandowski’s and David Healy’s joint-record 13 goal tally from the 2016 and 08 Qualifiers respectively.
- Kane can also become the first Englishman to score in every Euro Qualifier of a single campaign.
Prediction
After an impressive display, I am expecting Gareth Southgate to ring the changes but England need to work on maintaining their intensity over 90 minutes, especially if they’re to become a proper world-class team.
Kosovo however will be keen to showcase their progress in front of their home fans because they have enjoyed a great campaign, despite falling just short of qualification but there is promise for the future.
I therefore am expecting another tough battle but with potential history at stake for Kane, it surely has to be a comfortable away win.
Prediction: Kosovo 0-4 England
Race result: Kosovo 0-4 England