Kosovo vs England. European Championship Qualifying Group A.
Prishtina City StadiumAttendance12,326.
Follow live updates from Kosovo vs England on the Sky Sports website and app. You can then watch highlights from 15 minutes after full-time on the Sky Sports website, app and YouTube channel
Sunday 17 November 2019 16:02, UK
England's preparations for next summer's European Championships get underway when they face Kosovo in their final European Qualifier at the Pristina City Stadium on Sunday.
After emphatically booking their place as Group A winners with a 7-0 thrashing of Montenegro at Wembley, Gareth Southgate is likely to make changes with James Maddison a doubt with a minor calf strain, while John Stones is set to be rested.
It means Tyrone Mings is likely to win only his second England cap alongside Harry Maguire, though Fikayo Tomori is also pushing for his England debut, and he could feature at some stage.
England can look forward to Euro 2020, which will be played across 12 host cities in the first European Championship to be staged in more than two countries,
London is one of those host cities for next summer's showpiece which gives England the support of the Wembley crowd during the group stages, and then there is also the chance of a potential semi-final and final back at the home of football.
Euro 2020 is a rare opportunity that cannot be missed, and it is fast approaching.
The number of England fixtures in which to prepare for the tournament are running out so every minute Southgate gets with his squad is crucial as attentions turn to preparations for the tournament, starting against Kosovo.
With potentially just five games left to finalise plans for the tournament, there are still a lot question marks across the pitch for England.
So, what's on Southgate's to-do list ahead of next summer's tournament?
Southgate believes England's inexperienced squad can be "hugely competitive" at Euro 2020.
England's line-up in the victory against Montenegro was their youngest since 1959 and Southgate has consistently shown trust in young prospects, hoping it will reap rewards.
"You can never tell, because you just don't know who's going to be available, who's going to be on form," Southgate said. "We've got a fairly settled squad, but there are obviously players who've been with us in the last 18 months and are still in our thinking.
"We are always learning about the players more in the really big matches and the really high-pressure games. But we feel the team [against Montenegro] was extremely young, the squad is young.
"We've got to get the balance right with that, but these, in most cases, are our best players we think. Although next summer is going to be before a lot of them peak, we can still be hugely competitive and our challenge is to be able to compete, as we found a way to compete in Russia, with a squad that's very exciting."
Jordan Henderson and Joe Gomez have been ruled out of England's final European Qualifier in Kosovo.
Liverpool captain Henderson came into the squad with a viral infection that has not fully cleared.
Henderson's club team-mate Gomez clashed knees with Kieran Trippier in training on Friday and was hoping the impact injury would settle down, but he remains in a lot of pain and was unable to train. Gomez was happy to fly to Kosovo with the rest of the squad but Southgate thought there was no point taking him when he would not be able to play.
The pair have now returned to Liverpool, meaning Southgate will head to Pristina on Saturday with a 23-man squad.
The England manager said of Gomez: "You could not make it up if you tried he is absolutely fine. We scanned his knee and I think he will be fine in a couple of days, but he was not able to train today. Now was a good moment for him to go home for a couple of days and clear his head.
"The pleasing thing for me was we got him back on the pitch. The fact Raheem put out the tweet he did was the real closer on that whole incident, we will get Raheem back on the pitch tomorrow. We won the match on Thursday and we can now just look forward."
Liverpool defender Gomez, in the wake of his spat with Raheem Sterling on Monday, was booed after being introduced as a substitute during England's 7-0 victory over Montenegro.
The victory - in England's 1,000th international - sealed qualification for Euro 2020 and featured a hat-trick from captain Harry Kane, but the night was tainted somewhat by the reaction to Gomez.
Manchester City forward Sterling accepted all responsibility for the physical altercation and sat out the Montenegro game as punishment for his actions - later defending Gomez in a Twitter post and telling supporters it was wrong to jeer the 22-year-old.
Southgate expressed his disappointment at the booing of Gomez in the immediate aftermath of the victory and later said he would continue to support the former Charlton youngster as he defended the togetherness of his squad.
Harry Kane - who had spoken with manager Southgate following the fracas and also addressed the squad after the decision to sideline Sterling was taken - has called on England fans to be united in support of the team, no matter where their club allegiances lie.
"I know how important club football is with City and Liverpool and all clubs. But at international level, we are all England fans and the bottom line is that Joe is a great guy - one of the nicest guys I have ever met. He is a top professional and for him it is about moving on, training and looking at the next game. I don't think any player should be booed so hopefully it won't happen to Joe or Raheem if they play on Sunday.
"So, for me it is about moving on. We did that on the pitch and the talking point should be the 1,000th game, a 7-0 win and qualifying for next year's Euros."
Sterling and Gomez incident: Here's what happened - and how Gareth Southgate responded.
Southgate will recall Sterling for England's game in Kosovo after dropping him for the European Qualifier against Montenegro following an altercation with Gomez.
He will make a welcome return having assisted six England goals during the qualifying campaign, the joint second highest along with Antoine Griezmann and just behind Memphis Depay (7).
Sterling performed well against Kosovo during the reverse fixture at St Mary's in September, and coach Bernard Challandes joked that the only way his side can stop the Man City winger is by breaking his leg.
"For us, it is not good news for sure," he said. "It is double bad news because if Sterling plays he is one of the best in his position in the world and we saw in the first game the trouble with Sterling.
"It is clear if we remember the first game in England, if Sterling has so much space it is impossible to stop him because what he did in that game, it was 460 metres with high intensity.
"The most intense player for the Czech Republic was 200 metres, even that is a good score. Only as a team can we do and can we find a solution. Or we break the leg!
"But that is not our style, we are too nice - we are a team who are very, very, very nice but it is not a problem if we play together."
The trip to Kosovo gives Southgate a chance to look at some other players in his squad with only a few games remaining before Euro 2020 gets under way.
Maddison, who came on as a substitute against Montenegro for his maiden England cap, had looked set for his first start.
But a minor calf strain could see him on the bench again or miss out altogether, with the Leicester midfielder set to undergo a late fitness test before the game.
Mings will hope for his second cap having played the entirety of the 6-0 away win against Bulgaria last month and impressed in very difficult circumstances. He was replaced by Stones at centre-back against Montenegro but could be set for a return on Sunday, possibly patterned by Chelsea defender Tomori who also awaits his first senior England cap.
Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford could also be given a rest with Tammy Abraham - who scored his first senior international goal in the 7-0 win against Montenegro - and Callum Wilson waiting in the wings for their chance up front.
Stones could well be rested. It is understood Southgate and Manchester City are wary of his workload after only recently returning from injury.
The country is sure to be gripped next summer, just as it was at Euro 96, with the group games, semi-finals and final all to be played at Wembley.
"It's going to be an incredible experience for the players, for our fans," Southgate said. "We want to make Wembley somewhere that teams fear coming, that's part of the message I gave to the players. So, yes, it'll be a very, very special event to be a part of.
"And the players deserve it. They've played extremely well against opponents we should beat, in a group we should win, for sure, but the quality of their play and the number of goals they've scored...
"I used to look at Germany in qualification and they were racking up sixes and sevens and we used to be struggling to break down teams who played with a low block.
"We've now managed to play in a way that's been able to solve that problem. Now we've got to solve the different sorts of problems that come with the higher-ranked opponents, and that's the challenge of the next few months."
England will be at Euro 2020. Meanwhile, another 11 nations have already booked their place at the European Championships.
But who is likely to join them after the final round of qualifiers?
Here's how each group is shaping up with one matchday remaining.
Watch highlights of all of England's Euro 2020 qualifying games for free with Sky Sports - including Kosovo v England on Sunday.
The best bits from each game will be available on SkySports.com, the Sky Sports app and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel from 15 minutes after full-time - and you won't need a Sky Sports subscription to tune in.
