Lithuania v England preview: Gareth Southgate set to make changes
Sunday 8 October 2017 15:39, UK
With World Cup qualification already clinched, Gareth Southgate may look to field an experimental England line-up against Lithuania on Sunday.
England secured top spot in Group F with a 1-0 victory over Slovenia in their penultimate group match on Thursday at Wembley.
The clean sheet was England's seventh from nine games and they will be looking to finish the group with eight wins.
Jack Butland, Michael Keane and Jesse Lingard are among those pushing for starts on an artificial pitch in Vilnius, while Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks could make his debut after earning his first call-up to the national squad this week.
His club team-mate Harry Kane, who scored the late winner against Slovenia on Thursday, is keen to play even with games against Real Madrid and Liverpool coming up after the international break.
"I feel great, every game I expect to score and want to score. I just want to keep it going. September was fantastic for me, hopefully October can be even better," he said.
"Of course I want to play every game. Every game for England is important. If the gaffer wants me to play, I'll be there definitely, hopefully trying to score a few more goals."
Lithuania have scored just twice in their last six group games and have a goal difference of minus 12.
Jermain Defoe and Jamie Vardy scored in the reverse fixture as England beat Lithuania 2-0 at Wembley in March.
Team news
Dele Alli, who was serving a one-match ban for the Slovenia game, could return to the starting line-up.
England did not suffer any injuries against Slovenia but Southgate is expected to make changes with qualification already secured.
Lithuania also have no new injury concerns after their 1-1 draw in Malta on Thursday.
Opta stats
England have won all three of their previous encounters with Lithuania on the international stage, scoring nine and conceding none in the process.
The Three Lions have won only one of their five away games under Gareth Southgate (D2 L2), although it came last time out on the road versus Malta last month. Southgate (20%) has the worst away win percentage of any England manager to take charge of 5+ away games.
Lithuania have lost their last two home matches, they haven't lost three in a row since August 2001 (six).
Nine of Harry Kane's 11 England goals have been scored in the second half (82%), including his 90th minute winner in the last match against Slovenia.
Since losing 3-2 to Croatia in their final match of Euro 2008 Qualifying, England have won their final match of qualifying in four of the last five campaigns (D1), winning each of the last three without conceding, including a 3-0 win over Lithuania in October 2015.
