Follow live coverage of England vs Czech Republic in the Euro 2020 qualifier in Prague.
Victory tonight will assure the Three Lions of their place in the tournament – where the group stage, semi-final and final will take place on home soil at Wembley. England have blown away their Group A competition so far, scoring 19 goals from four qualifiers – including a 5-0 victory over the Czechs in March.
And they will be hopeful of another positive result as they build towards the finals next summer. We’ll have all the latest throughout the evening here:
England won the first qualifying clash between the two sides 5-0 but the Czech Republic haven’t lost a home qualifier since 2015, is an upset on the cards?
“We’ve marked him as a player from the first time I saw him at St George’s Park.”
Mason Mount is given his first international start for England tonight after coming on as a substitute last month against Kosovo and Bulgaria.
Gareth Southgate claims to have been a big fan of the player for some time.
Asked what he has made of Mount recently, he said: “Exactly what I thought of him when I saw him at 16 playing for our U16s, he’s a quality player, an intelligent footballer, presses well, has a real eye for goal, good quality.
“So, nothing I’ve seen surprises me at all.”
It’s been 100 years since England won a game in Prague but they have won eight of their last nine matches. The only loss coming against the Netherlands in the Nations League semi-finals earlier this year.
In the four Euro 2020 qualifying matches England have scored 19 goals and conceded only four. If they win tonight they’ll go six points ahead of the Czech Republic with two games to play.
That would secure their place in the tournament next year so lots to play for.
England have been banging in the goals during these qualifiers but at times have looked suspect when defending.
Patrik Schick, the Czech Republic’s dangerman tonight will be doing his best to trouble England’s back line.
The forward has four goals in five qualifiers and he is currently on loan at RB Leipzig from Roma.
The Czech Republic have a decent footballing history and a more successful European Championship one than England.
In the 1996 tournament, the same tournament in which Gareth Southgate missed in the penalty shootout that England lost to Germany in the semi-finals, the Czech Republic were the runners-up.
It was their first international competition since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia who won the European Championship in 1976.
Southgate knows that tonight’s match won’t be a pushover, he said: “I think we only have to look at the table to see the games in Kosovo and here are likely to be the most difficult.
“The Czechs have a wonderful football history really, [It is] more successful than ours, in European Championships in particular, but there are a lot of countries in that situation.
“We’ve got to take on each challenge and we’re a team who are slowly improving, learning all the time. [it] is a good challenge for us, coming away from home, to see if we can replicate the level of performance that we have had in recent months.”
And here is the Czech Republic starting XI:
England’s hosts and opponents have arrived at the Sinobo Stadium, the match will get underway in just over an hours time
A victory for England tonight would see them qualify for the European Championship in 2020 and manager Gareth Southgate believes the players should celebrate the achievement should they accomplish it against the Czech Republic:
Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho make up Gareth Southgate’s first choice attack tonight.
They might be the best forward line in Europe, as no other team can beat England’s haul of 19 goals in Euro 2020 qualifying but they are level with Belgium and France going into this international weekend.
Sterling has outscored Kane for club and country over the past 14 months – with eight goals for England in his last nine appearances.
Whilst Sancho scored twice against Kosovo and is by far the most creative player available to Southgate.
A big night for Mason Mount.
What a season he’s having. He’d never played for Chelsea or scored a Premier League goal a few short months ago.
Now he’s an England starter.
Dream big kids.
Here’s the all important team then and Mason Mount, as expected, does make his first start for the senior side.
Michael Keane partners Harry Maguire in the centre of defence with Kieran Trippier preferred over Trent Alexander-Arnold at right back.
Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice form the base of midfield with Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho, Mount and captain Harry Kane in front.
How about the view from the opposition?
Well Czech head coach Jaroslav Silhavy feels like England have a weakness that can be exploited…
Gareth Southgate has tried to defuse growing tension with Bulgaria, with the England manager stressing that attempts to prepare and support their players in the face of potential racist abuse have been misconstrued by Monday’s opponents.
Southgate took the unusual step of expressing concerns about the potential for racism in Sofia a month ahead of Monday’s match – fears the Bulgarian Football Union called “groundless, inappropriate and unnecessary”.
The BFU’s fury has only ratcheted up in recent days and federation president Borislav Mikhaylov has said England’s players should face sanctions from UEFA if they continue to talk about the possibility of racist abuse in the country.
The former goalkeeper has written to European football’s governing body to express his anger at the comments from the England camp suggesting they could walk off the pitch without following UEFA’s three-step protocol.
Asked about Mikhaylov’s comments, Southgate said in Prague: “I can totally understand why the Bulgarian president feels as he does because we have purely been responding honestly to questions we’ve been asked by you guys (the media).
“That will then be relayed however it may be relayed in Bulgaria, and the way that that’s pitched could appear provocative or appear that we’re the people who are laying the subject on the table.
“So, if I was him, and I was only reading those quotes and not knowing the context of why the things were said and the responses were said, then I would feel probably as he does.
“We are not trying to create a situation at all, far from it.”
Everyone in football knows his name.
But did you know Antonin Panenka hails from the Czech Republic?
This is the story of Panenka and a penalty kick heard around the world.
Raheem Sterling is excited by England’s attacking options, but does not believe they can be considered great until they shine on the biggest stages.
Gareth Southgate sees few better front threes than Marcus Rashford or Jadon Sancho with Harry Kane and Sterling, but the latter knows they have a lot to prove.
“I think that there are a lot of great front threes in the world,” Manchester City forward Sterling said.
“I think with the four players you mention, they’re all players that are still getting better, still learning, but at the same time are producing as well, so, yeah, it’s an exciting front three.
“But, you know, we’ve got to do it in big games, big tournaments. That’s when we’ll be judged if we’re a great front three or not.”
Kick-off is under two hours away at the Sinobo Stadium.
Score predictions?
We’ll have team news from Prague in less than 45 minutes so stay tuned.
England have blown away their Group A competition so far, scoring 19 goals from four qualifiers – including a 5-0 victory over the Czechs in March.
Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick that day, while Harry Kane took home the match ball following a 4-0 win against Bulgaria.
While the pair will obviously be key to any hopes of success next summer, Southgate feels he has plenty of other options should something go awry between now and then – with Marcus Rashford, Callum Wilson and Tammy Abraham also in the squad and other young talent waiting in the wings.
“We’ve got Callum Hudson-Odoi coming through and other players are emerging so quickly,” he said.
“You’ve got Bukayo Saka at Arsenal just dipping his toes in the first team as well. So, we’ve got really good players, we need more than three.
“I’ve always said that in tournaments that I played in, we always pinned our hopes on one player or two players.
“Then there was an injury, a drama and a crisis and you need players to be able to start games and you need players who are able to come on and make a difference in games.
“So, I don’t think it matters what our starting three is. Clearly, at the moment Raheem and Harry, their numbers are incredible and the consistency of their performance is, but the rest can be down to performance at any given time.
“And how we see the guys in training and their physical level. These guys know that Tammy coming through is going to push that. Callum Wilson is going to want to push – we can try to motivate the players but that competition for places is as much as a driver than anything else.”
It’s a big game in terms of qualification but a lot of the focus will be off the pitch.
Miguel Delaney is in Prague and sets the scene.
Follow live coverage of England vs Czech Republic in the Euro 2020 qualifier in Prague.
Victory tonight will assure the Three Lions of their place in the tournament – where the group stage, semi-final and final will take place on home soil at Wembley.
England have blown away their Group A competition so far, scoring 19 goals from four qualifiers – including a 5-0 victory over the Czechs in March.
And they will be hopeful of another positive result as they build towards the finals next summer.
We’ll have all the latest throughout the evening here.
Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane are obviously key but while the pair will obviously be key to any hopes of success next summer, Southgate feels he has plenty of other options should something go awry between now and then – with Marcus Rashford, Callum Wilson and Tammy Abraham also in the squad and other young talent waiting in the wings.
“We’ve got Callum Hudson-Odoi coming through and other players are emerging so quickly,” he said. “You’ve got Bukayo Saka at Arsenal just dipping his toes in the first team as well. So, we’ve got really good players, we need more than three.
“I’ve always said that in tournaments that I played in, we always pinned our hopes on one player or two players.
“Then there was an injury, a drama and a crisis and you need players to be able to start games and you need players who are able to come on and make a difference in games.
“So, I don’t think it matters what our starting three is. Clearly, at the moment Raheem and Harry, their numbers are incredible and the consistency of their performance is, but the rest can be down to performance at any given time.
“And how we see the guys in training and their physical level. These guys know that Tammy coming through is going to push that. Callum Wilson is going to want to push – we can try to motivate the players but that competition for places is as much as a driver than anything else.”
