England must be just about the strongest nation in the world in qualifying and they are 33-9-0 in their last 42 starts in World Cup/Euros qualifiers. In this competion they have won 13 straight, only conceding in three, but they have given up a goal in 12 of their last 21 starts in all competitions. Tonight they play a "minnow" in Kosovo and are expected to win with a degree of comfort, but the visitors have made a lot of friends amongst neutrals for the way they play the game, they are more than a bit gung-ho, no respecter of reputations and you just know they would love a goal tonight, if they cannot provide the upset. They are unbeaten in 15 themselves (both teams scored in last 5), but the two strongest nations they have faced were Denmark (2-2) and the Czech Republic (2-1) and England beat the Czechs 5-0 earlier in qualifying and this is big step up for Kosovo as a footballing nation. However, the match is being played at St Mary's the Southampton ground which is very different from Wembley and holds just 32,000, it is the first fixture that the Three Lions have played away from the National Stadium since 2006 and the only other game played here was a 2-2 draw with Macedonia in a Euro 2004 qualifier. The venue shift has to help Kosovo to some degree. England head coach Gareth Southgate spoke about the change in this from facing the defensive minded Bulgarians at the weekend ......"It will be a very different style of game,"Kosovo will be very high pressing, hard working, a more attacking threat than we faced on Saturday, maybe there will be more space to play up front." England have allowed 20 (!) attempts on target against them in their last three starts, most to Netherlands, but 4 to a very limited Bulgaria on Saturday and it is easy to see a couple for the more adventurous Kosovans 3-1/4-1.

 

 

 

 

Good luck.