England take the show on the road as Eze pushes for a start – talking points

By Sports Desk June 18, 2023

England host North Macedonia at Old Trafford on Monday night looking to maintain their perfect start to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

Gareth Southgate’s side have taken a stranglehold on Group C after a comfortable victory over minnows Malta on Friday.

Here, the PA news agency look at some of the major talking points ahead of England’s final fixture of the season.

Halfway house

The visit of North Macedonia marks the midway point of England’s quest to qualify for the finals in Germany next summer.

Heading into the game, the Group C favourites sit six points clear at the top having already recorded victories over Ukraine and Italy before easing past Malta.

A win against North Macedonia would complete a clean sweep of their group opponents at the halfway point and see Southgate’s side close in on securing their place in December’s draw.

Alexander-Arnold a natural

Despite being regarded as one of Europe’s best right-backs, Trent Alexander-Arnold has had to be patient in his attempts to lock down a regular place in the England squad – let alone the starting XI.

The Liverpool defender, however, shone in a midfield role in the win over Malta and said the position felt “natural” to him.

Sterner tests await but, with Southgate enthused by his display, Alexander-Arnold could become a mainstay in the middle of the park for England.

Eze does it


Eberechi Eze became the latest senior England international as he came off the bench to replace James Maddison in the latter stages of the routine win in Malta.

It was fine reward for the 24-year-old following a purple patch at Crystal Palace and now he will be pushing to make his first start.

Released by Millwall in 2016, it would mark a meteoric rise for Eze, who has a long-term admirer in Southgate.

Treble trouble for North Macedonia


The Manchester City contingent within the England ranks were named on the bench in Malta, with just Phil Foden playing any minutes.

Having been involved in the Champions League final less than a week earlier – and the ensuing celebrations – Southgate opted to keep Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips, John Stones and Jack Grealish in reserve.

That may not be the case at Old Trafford, however, with the City quintet wanting to end a memorable season on another high.

On the road


The trip to Old Trafford marks England’s first game on home soil not to be staged at Wembley since the humiliating 4-0 Nations League loss to Hungary a year ago.

Molineux was the venue for that shock scoreline on June 14, 2022 as loud jeers and chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” echoed around Wolves’ stadium.

Old Trafford is a more familiar setting for England games but Southgate will hope the result – and the reception – will be a much more positive experience this time out.

Related items

  • Mbappe position switch works wonders for Ancelotti Mbappe position switch works wonders for Ancelotti

    Carlo Ancelotti was satisfied his tactical decision to switch Kylian Mbappe's position in attack paid off in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Leganes.

    Mbappe scored his seventh goal of the season to help Madrid to a comfortable victory in LaLiga on Sunday.

    However, his position in Madrid's front line has been a topic of debate since he joined the Spanish champions, with Mbappe having often played out wide while at Paris Saint-Germain.

    And Ancelotti elected to switch Mbappe out to the left flank against Leganes, with Vinicius Junior spearheading Los Blancos' attack.

    "Mbappe played on the left side, where he did well, and Vinicius on the inside," Ancelotti told reporters.

    "We have to highlight their play to open the scoring. They did very, very well. Mbappe scored, after a fantastic assist from Vinicius. Little by little, they're both improving.

    "Kylian is more used to playing there and today, for the team and for him, it was the best thing.

    "Because playing on the outside brings more effort and Vinicius was back on Thursday. Meanwhile, Kylian had been training here for a week and a half, he was fresher."

    Mbappe was not called up by France coach Didier Deschamps for this month's Nations League games, despite being Les Bleus' captain.

    With an injury crisis at the back and a trip to Anfield to face Premier League and Champions League leaders Liverpool coming up, Ancelotti added he was hopeful of Lucas Vazquez, who has a hamstring strain, and Aurelien Tchouameni, who is recovering from a sprained left ankle, returning to action.

    He was also upbeat about the contribution of Federico Valverde, who scored from a free-kick while filling in at right-back.

    "The truth is that Fede, at the back, has done very well," said Ancelotti of the Uruguayan, who also wore the captain's armband. 

    "He's a fantastic fullback. After Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez, the best right-back in the world. His problem is that he can play at this level in many positions and is the coach's problem to choose the best position for the team.

    "Let's see if Lucas and Tchouameni can recover. If not, we will make decisions."

    Jude Bellingham netted Madrid's other goal as Ancelotti's team closed to within four points of LaLiga leaders Barcelona, who drew 2-2 with Celta Vigo on Saturday.

    Madrid also have a game in hand on Hansi Flick's side.

  • Orlando City 1-0 Atlanta United: Enrique strike sets up Red Bulls clash Orlando City 1-0 Atlanta United: Enrique strike sets up Red Bulls clash

    Atlanta United beat Inter Miami in the first round of the MLS playoffs, yet their postseason came to an end with a 1-0 defeat to Orlando City.

    The Five Stripes went into Sunday's Eastern Conference semifinal at Inter&Co Stadium full of confidence after ditching Lionel Messi and the rest of Miami's stars out of the playoffs last time out.

    Yet it was Orlando who, for the first time in club history, booked their place in the Eastern Conference finals thanks to Ramiro Enrique's 39th-minute winner.

    Enrique tucked in from close range after Atlanta failed to clear their lines from a corner.

    That goal came after Orlando had started brightly, with Dagur Thorhallsson hitting the woodwork early on before Facundo Torres saw an effort cleared off the line.

    Buoyed by a fine record against Orlando, who they had lost to just four times in 22 meetings ahead of this contest, Atlanta pressed for an equaliser after the break, but they could not find a way through a robust Lions defence.

    Orlando will now host the New York Red Bulls in next week's Eastern Conference final, with a place in the MLS Cup final on the line.

    Data Debrief: Stay away from the Lions' den

    Fresh from the Orlando Pride's victory in the National Women's Soccer League on Saturday, Orlando had plenty to live up to if they wanted to cap a great sporting weekend for the city.

    And they did just that, with the backing of a vociferous crowd that helped them get over the line. Those fans will be called on again next week when the Red Bulls roll into town, but Orlando need not fear. They have lost only one of their last 14 home matches in all competitions (W9 D4 including two penalty shootout wins and one penalty shootout loss). 

    And while Atlanta huffed and puffed, they never really threatened to blow the door down, as Orlando limited them to just eight shots, with none of those hitting the target.

    Indeed, Orlando had openings on the counter and could have put the match to bed with a bit more composure, as they finished with 1.3 expected goals to Atlanta's 0.4 xG.

  • Conte: Napoli need to focus on improvement, not Serie A lead Conte: Napoli need to focus on improvement, not Serie A lead

    Napoli should pay little attention to their place at the top of Serie A, so says Antonio Conte, who has demanded improvement from his team.

    Romelu Lukaku's second-half goal handed Napoli a 1-0 win over Roma on Sunday.

    That victory sent Napoli back to the summit of Serie A, with Conte's side one point ahead of Atalanta, Inter, Fiorentina and Lazio, while Juventus are only four points back in a six-team title race.

    Napoli needed to get back to winning ways after a draw against Inter and a 3-0 loss to Atalanta before the international break, and Conte insists his team must sharpen up.

    "Before the match, I told the lads not to look at the table, but to focus on ourselves and improving what we are working on," Conte told Sky Sport Italia.

    "I maintain that now too because we need to take a series of steps to raise the level.

    "I was satisfied with the performance for a good 65 minutes today, we could’ve taken more of our chances and were up against a strong Roma who have great players.

    "Roma were also making their debut under a new coach and therefore were very eager to prove themselves, but we still should've dealt with the final 15-20 minutes better, as we sat too deep and made it complicated for ourselves."

    Roma, playing under new boss Claudio Ranieri, came close to equalising when Artem Dovbyk hit the woodwork with a header. 

    Ranieri came out of retirement to take charge of Roma following Ivan Juric's dismissal earlier in November, though the visitors had just six shots and accumulated only 0.6 expected goals (xG) at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

    "If we look back, we have some problems and that is why I was called. We were up against a team that is fighting to win the Scudetto," Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.

    "Having said all of that, I am happy with the performance from my players. We made some mistakes that we will talk about during the week, but the hunger, the determination to get back on track was there.

    "We have a lot of work to do, but I feel positive.

    "We know there is work to be done, we have to focus on reacting rather than sitting there feeling sorry for ourselves.

    "The [players] need the right character to help themselves and then others. Naturally, when I arrived, the team was a little closed up, but I think we started to open up a bit by the second half."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.