Gareth Southgate wants England to retain a relentless winning mentality akin to treble winners Manchester City as the road to Euro 2024 continues.
Monday’s Group C encounter against North Macedonia marks the halfway point of qualification for next summer’s tournament in Germany.
England already look all but assured of reaching the Euros having won at reigning champions Italy and beaten Ukraine in March before swatting aside Malta 4-0 on Friday night.
Southgate’s opposite number Michele Marcolini said the minnows, ranked 172nd in the world, could not get anywhere near the visitors as they had an “amazing attitude on the pitch from the first minute”.
That is the product of the impressive mindset cultivated by England, who are also expected to beat 65th-placed North Macedonia as this mammoth season finally comes to a close on Monday.
Put to Southgate that progress to date will count for nothing if complacency seeps in at Old Trafford, the England boss said: “Correct, yeah. That’s what we have to be.
“We’ve just watched the team win three trophies. Why? Because pretty much every game I saw them play the mentality was spot on.
“That helps when you’ve got competition for places like we have because also you know that you can’t afford a dip. You’ve got to produce.
“So sometimes you can say things as a coach but the fact that there’s somebody sitting ready to take your place that’s a good player also has an impact.
“But we have good professionals. Everybody, of course, is excited by our younger players, but our senior players have a big impact on the way they train.
“The way they embrace the younger ones coming in and the way they demand in the dressing room, the mentality that they start to set, so it all plays a part.”
Southgate utilised an experienced core in Malta, while giving Marc Guehi and James Maddison starts on a night when Trent Alexander-Arnold played in midfield.
That experiment worked brilliantly as the Liverpool right-back put in a man-of-the-match display, scoring a fine effort and playing a part in England’s two other first-half goals.
Southgate admits England’s performance in Malta has slightly altered his thinking ahead of facing North Macedonia, but suggested it was down to other aspects than Alexander Arnold’s display.
“Yep (the performance made me think differently) but not the obvious that you might think!” he said with a smile.
“We always have in mind what happens (next). Of course, there’s still training over the next couple of days also to take into account.
“But what we saw tonight probably confirmed a couple of things, but also, you know, left one or two things open.
“You’ve always got a plan but normally we’re on plan E, F or G by the time we get to matchday because of the players we’ve lost or things that have happened.
“So, you always have to be flexible but pleased to get the players off that we got off and nice to give some minutes to some others as well.”
Harry Kane – who scored England’s third – Luke Shaw, Jordan Henderson and Maddison were withdrawn in the second half after Bukayo Saka was taken off at the break.
The 21-year-old forward had looked in discomfort after a tackle just before half-time, but Southgate moved to allay any injury concerns.
“He is good,” the England boss said. “We just thought there’s no point in taking any chances with the scoreline as it was.”
In truth, Friday’s straightforward match in Malta will not live long in the memory but it will be forever etched in Eberechi Eze’s memory.
Denied a place in England’s provisional Euro 2020 squad by a cruelly timed Achilles injury, the Crystal Palace midfielder finally made his debut as a 70th-minute substitute at the Ta’ Qali National Stadium.
“For Eze, nice to dip his toes,” Southgate said. “He’s only had a few days training with us so he’s still getting used to everything.
“It’s, of course, a big step coming into a senior camp for the first time, even though he’s been with the Under-21s.
“He’s, I think, had his eyes opened to the level, the quality of the players, the intensity every day so a brilliant experience for him.
“He’s fabulous boy, I have to say. He really gives a lot of energy every day, which is brilliant.”
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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