England vs Montenegro
EURO Qualification
Date: Thursday, 14 November 2019
Kick-off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Venue: Wembley Stadium (London).
FA would imagine the build-up to their 1000 internationally as an opportunity to celebrate all that has been great in the rich history of the England national team, but it is the two players who will very much be part of the future that has stole the headlines for the wrong reasons ,
Some stories capture the attention of such a public fallout between teammates, and Gareth Southgate's decision to drop Raheem Sterling - arguably the best British player since 2018 - after a bust-up with Joe Gomez quickly shifted all focus on the landmark nature of Thursday's game.
Creating a community situation has attracted various reactions from former players, but Southgate firm in its insistence that the club competition will not spill onto the international stage, regardless of whether the title of the highly charged battle between Liverpool and Manchester City lasted only a day before the squad met.
It is that the removal of gang club which is widely credited with helping England make it further in the World Cup final than the so-called 'Golden Generation' never succeed, and all who are involved in a bust-up which seems keen to move.
It looks bleak for the Montenegro side who have failed to win one of seven of their qualifiers so far in this campaign, then, leave them below along with Bulgaria on just three points.
Indeed, Hadzibegic Faruk's side have failed to score even one of their four competitive events and has just three goals in seven of their Group A match so far while conceding 15 at the other end.
Thursday will be the final match of the qualifying campaign Montenegro, with the prospect of making the Euro 2020 long since over for the 61st-best team in the world - 57 places below England in the latest FIFA rankings.
The fact that they lead the reverse fixture means that the UK can not write them fully before this contest, but the visitors the most important contribution to the game might just be to 'any other team in the game in 1000 England.
England probably starting lineup:
Pickford; Alexander Arnold, Maguire, Mings, Chilwell; Henderson, Winks, Maddison; Sancho, Kane, Rashford
Montenegro possible starting lineup:
Petkovic; Vesovic, Lagator, Simic, Bulatovic; Boljevic, Vukcevic, Hočko, Jovovic; Mugosa, Beciraj
Prediction
United are top of Group A and four points clear of third place heading into the final two Euro 2020 qualifying them.
The Three Lions are guaranteed to qualify if they beat Montenegro on Thursday, while a draw would also be enough if Kosovo beat the Czech Republic. England would secure top spot if they win on Thursday and the Czech Republic failed to beat Kosovo.
This is the last qualifying Montenegro and they failed to win the previous seven in their Group A. They have failed to score in their last four and were beaten 5-1 by England in the reverse fixture back in March. They are not expected to trouble England on Thursday.
Prediction: England 3: 0 Montenegro
