England have made a solid start to their campaign to reach the competition in Russia in two years' time, collecting seven points from the first nine available after wins over Slovakia (1-0) and Malta (2-0) and a goalless draw with Slovenia. Notwithstanding the fact that they are currently residing at the summit of the standings in their group, the Three Lions' displays have been rather uninspiring up to now, with very little for fans to get excited about as the country attempts to rebuild and move on from the debacle of the European Championship in the summer, when England were remarkably knocked out by Iceland in the round of 16.
Scotland are currently in fourth place in the six-team group after a 3-0 defeat by Slovakia, 1-1 draw with Lithuania and 5-1 thrashing of Malta. Manager Gordon Strachan finds himself under pressure heading into this encounter in London; the former Southampton and Celtic boss failed to lead the Scots to a place in the expanded Euros in France and has overseen few improvements since then, with Scotland still looking some way short of being good enough to reach their first World Cup since 1998.
England will be unable to call upon the services of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli, who has been ruled out after picking up a knee injury in training with his club last week. Jack Wilshere has returned to the international fold after proving his fitness on loan at Bournemouth, though, while Harry Kane looks set to start up front following his comeback for Tottenham against Arsenal last weekend. Southgate will probably employ a 4-3-3 formation rather than a 4-2-3-1, with the absence of Alli robbing him of his first-choice option in the No.10 role that is so central to the latter configuration.
Scotland are also likely to set themselves up in a 4-3-3, with Hull City's Robert Snodgrass and RB Leipzig's Oliver Burke the leading contenders to start on the flanks and Steven Fletcher, Steven Naismith and Chris Martin all competing for the sole spot at centre-forward. Premier League midfielders James McArthur and captain Darren Fletcher will be essential if the visitors are to avoid being overrun in the engine room, while a probable back four of Callum Paterson, Grant Hanley, Russell Martin and Stephen Kingsley will be tested by England's crop of attacking players.
This fixture used to one of the highlights of the British football calendar, but it has significantly declined in importance in recent years for a variety of different reasons. This could still be an entertaining match between two great footballing rivals, however, although it is extremely difficult to look past anything other than a comfortable home victory. A 3-0 win for Southgate's side could therefore be the way to go in the correct scoreline market, with Tottenham frontman Kane the obvious choice to find the back of the net before anyone else on the pitch.
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