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The Three Lions welcome the Czech Republic to Wembley on Friday evening under rather unprecedented circumstances. International breaks are routinely greeted with disdain and frustration, but the latest hiatus from club football has provided a cathartic relief from the predictable narrative surrounding the Premier League title race.
Instead, football fans can begin to look forward to their next dose of Lightning Seeds induced carnage when England kick off their qualifying campaign for Euro 2020; the first step towards another summer of international football mania on English soil could be made on Friday evening.
The visiting side are a nation with a rich footballing history but the current generation of talent leave plenty to be desired. Unlike England, the Czech Republic have won the European Championships in the past – albeit prior to the dissolution of Czechslovakia – when they beat West Germany via a penalty shootout in 1976. Any lingering dreams of emulating that glory are firmly in the realm of fantasy; merely qualifying for the tournament would represent an achievement in itself given the strength of their squad.
Ahead of the fixture, we’ve taken a look at the history behind the fixture, a head-to-head battle and some important selection decisions Gareth Southgate could be faced with.
What History Tells Us
The head-to-head record detailed above includes all England fixtures against both the Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia. Both nations have struggled to record victory over the Three Lions throughout history, with just two wins to boast and a notable disparity in the number of goals they have managed to accumulate.
Given the calibre of the players who are available to Southgate and the history behind the fixture, it’s fair to say that the hosts are strong favourites to kick off their qualifying campaign with a morale-boosting three points.
That the Czechs are 39 places below England in the FIFA rankings speaks volumes about their standing in international football right now. The current quality of Jaroslav Silhavy’s squad is a far cry from golden era which saw Milan Baros, Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky, Jan Koller and Peter Cech all star at Euro 2004.
Key Battle
Patrik Schick is the proverbial rose amongst the thorny Czech squad. If anyone is likely to cause some damage in and around the penalty area this evening then it’s the AS Roma striker.
The 23-year-old has struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular in Serie A this season but his international form reads well for the visitors. In the UEFA Nations League group stage, Schick notched three goals and underlined his capabilities to operate as a target man by winning eight aerial duels.
In the opposite corner we have the undisputed heavyweight attacker in this battle, with Harry Kane likely to spearhead a scintillating front-three. A series of impressive performances in the Nations League group stage saw him thrive as a playmaking link to connect the midfield to the attack, but that did not prevent him from scoring the priceless winner against Croatia which enabled England to top the group and secure their place at the Nations League finals this summer.
The 25-year-old only recently returned to full fitness and question marks remain over whether he is match sharp, so it will be interesting to see if a fresh-legged Schick can outshine his opposite number this evening.
England Team News
Southgate will be missing plenty of key players for the opening of the qualifying campaign. John Stones, Jesse Lingard, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez and Harry Winks, who would all be considered probable starters, have all been ruled out through injury, while the likes of Luke Shaw, Fabian Delph, Ruben Loftus-Cheek also miss out. The lengthy list of absentees has forced Southgate to draft James Ward-Prowse and Callum Hudson-Odoi into the squad this week.
One of the most intriguing selection choices will revolve around Declan Rice, who has controversially opted to become an England international despite playing friendlies for the Republic of Ireland. West Ham’s lynchpin represents a fantastic option to deploy at the base of a three man midfield behind Tottenham’s Dele Alli and Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson, and on current form nobody is more deserving of that particular role.
Marcus Rashford trained separately from the rest of the England squad on Thursday and is a major doubt for the clash, and his absence could pave the way for the insatiable Jadon Sancho to step into the starting XI, but of course England’s main goal threat will be captain Kane.
