Already relegated England welcome Germany to Wembley for their final Nations League group game looking to break a five-match winless run, their worst run in eight years. Even if they don't beat their rival, simply scoring from open play might be progress for Gareth Southgate's side, whose last competitive, non-penalty goal came against San Marino in November last year.
It is remarkable to say this of a manager who has taken his nation to a World Cup semifinal and European Championships final, but the pressure is on Southgate; if recent games are anything to go on he may even find himself the subject of jeers and boos from supporters at Wembley. Fourteen months is indeed a long time in football.
Here's what to know:
How to watch & odds
- Date: Monday, Sept. 26 | Time: 2:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Wembley Stadium -- London
- TV: FS1 | Live stream: fuboTV (try for free)
- Odds: England +138; Draw +220; Germany +190 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Storylines
England: Southgate insists he is the right man to lead the Three Lions to Qatar, and he retains the support of the English Football Association. Still, even if he did not it would surely be too late for a change with less than two months until England kick off their World Cup campaign. Usually, a dead rubber in a lower-stakes tournament such as the Nations League would afford opportunities to give fringe players such as Ivan Toney and Fikayo Tomori a chance to earn their place in Qatar. How can he do so when there are so many questions over what would constitute his strongest XI?
A repeat performance from Friday's impressive display in defeat to Italy should see Jude Bellingham establish himself in Southgate's XI but Declan Rice does not seem to be the player he once was. The likes of Raheem Sterling and Harry Maguire have delivered for most of the current manager's reign but have struggled with the Three Lions of late, and in the case of the latter, are doing nothing at club level to earn their international opportunities. Surely though it is too late for the likes of Tomori to find themselves in the England side?
Germany: Hansi Flick's team are hardly the belle of the European ball either; Hungary won 1-0 in Leipzig on Friday to inflict a first national team defeat on the former Bayern Munich boss, who has also won just one of his last six games. Adam Szalai's stunning flick off a corner might have been a surprising way to concede but Flick acknowledged that the real issues were at the other end of the pitch, where Germany turned 72 percent possession into just three shots on target.
"That goal isn't one you score every day, it is definitely avoidable," Flick said in his post-match press conference. "I also didn't expect us to create so little chances. We need to focus on getting things right now. The time for experiments is over."
That suggests Jonas Hoffmann might not start at right back again but there is probably still tinkering required up front with Thomas Muller, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz all struggling for form.
Prediction
Two struggling sides might just be happy enough to share a draw with goals and get away from this international break without any further defeats. Pick: England 1, Germany 1
