Sam Allardyce left his post as Three Lions manager last week after a national newspaper alleged that he had offered to provide advice to undercover reporters posing as a firm from the Far East on ways in which Football Association rules could be circumvented. Southgate has stepped in on an interim basis for England’s next four matches, with some strong performances and results likely to result in him being given the job permanently. The former Middlesbrough boss will be grateful that Malta are his first opponents, with England looking for their second win in qualification for the 2018 World Cup after a last-gasp 1-0 victory over Slovakia last month.
Malta will simply be aiming to amass as many points as possible in the current campaign, with a place in Russia in two years’ time out of their reach. Scotland ran out 5-1 winners when the two went head-to-head in September – which does not bode particularly well for this weekend’s trickier-looking game – but Pietro Ghedin and his players at least know that there will be no pressure on them to pick up a result at Wembley. Indeed, that will be the case for Malta throughout the next 12 months; the Reds only won a single point in qualification for the 2010 World Cup, so it will not take much for them to improve on their last showing.
Southgate has called up Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard and Burnley’s Michael Keane for the first time, while Andros Townsend, Theo Walcott and Marcus Rashford have also returned to the squad. Wayne Rooney will probably be included in the starting XI despite recently being dropped by Jose Mourinho at United, while Joe Hart remains England’s No.1 goalkeeper despite being let go by Manchester City in the summer.
The majority of Malta’s squad ply their trade overseas at club level, with defender Zach Muscat and forward Andre Schembri playing in Italy with Arezzo and Portugal with Boavista respectively. Former Coventry City and Barnsley man Michael Mifsud – who is his country’s all-time record scorer and third-highest appearance-maker – remains part of the Maltese group, while Nigeria-born striker Alfred Effiong has an excellent goal return of four strikes in 13 appearances for his adopted nation.
Anything other than a comfortable England victory would be a shock on Saturday evening, with Malta unlikely to be able to halt their illustrious opponents. It could therefore be worth backing the hosts to come out on top by five goals to nil, with Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli a good-value choice for first goalscorer. Another potential betting option is over 4.5 goals to be netted in total: Malta conceded five against Scotland and could be powerless to resist England’s attack, while Southgate’s side will probably want to rack up a large triumph in a bid to rebuild confidence after a dismal European Championship performance in the summer.
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