Follow live coverage as England play Albania as they look to close in on a place at the Qatar 2022 World Cup tonight.
Gareth Southgate’s side need four points from their remaining two qualifying games to ensure their place at next year’s tournament. They will have to get them without a host of first-team options, however, with Declan Rice joining Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford and Mason Mount in being missing from this one.
The Three Lions will be hoping for a better performance than last time out at Wembley when they only managed draw against Hungary. “I don’t remember saying we underestimated them,” Southgate said. “Hungary came and defended really well. We didn’t play at the level we’ve hit this calendar year.
“We’ve had a good focus this week on making sure we’re on the front foot in the game and making sure that our pressing is better than it was that night and making sure we’re sharp with the ball and move it quickly. These teams are well organised and you’ve got to break down a packed defence. Our quality has got to come to the fore. But if you can win the ball higher up the pitch you can catch them when they are perhaps a little bit disorganised. They are things that we’ve had a good training week to focus on.”
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