England play host to Slovenia on Saturday evening looking to maintain their 100% record in qualifying for Euro 2016. The Three Lions have already seen off Switzerland, San Marino and Estonia, as this summer's poor World Cup showing slowly begins to fade out of memory.
The 29-year-old captain also has the chance to push towards becoming the nation’s leading goalscorer; his current tally of 43 has him fourth on this list, but he needs only one goal to move joint third with Jimmy Greaves.
Standing in their way are second-placed Slovenia, who could erase the three-point lead England are currently enjoying over the rest of the group with a win. The visitors started their qualifying campaign with a loss to Estonia, but won both fixtures in October, including a late win over Switzerland.
The victory over Estonia last time out is a game best remembered for Raheem Sterling's omission from the starting lineup due to complaints of fatigue, although the Liverpool winger is in line to start for the Three Lions at Wembley this weekend.Roy Hodgson will retain the 4-3-1-2 formation that he has used in recent matches, with Raheem Sterling in behind two strikers.
Roy Hodgson could hand a first cap to West Bromwich Albion's Saido Berahino, with the striker taking the Premier League by storm this season en route to becoming the top-scoring Englishman in the division, although he may have to wait until next weekend's friendly clash against Scotland at Celtic Park.Likewise, Nathaniel Clyne and the returning Stewart Downing may not feature against Slovenia, with the latter back in the senior set-up for the first time since 2012. The Dragons come into this game boosted by the return of Sinia Andjelkovic, who has spent the last 18 months on the sidelines, while Miral Samardzic also returns to the travelling party.
England will be without midfielders Michael Carrick and Andros Townsend, meanwhile, both of whom have withdrawn from the squad through injury. These two sides have met on one occasion previously, back in the 2010 World Cup finals when Fabio Capello's England ran out 1-0 winners in the group stage of the showpiece event.
Past Two Meetings…
Slovenia 0 England 1 (Defoe), World Cup Finals, June 2010
England 2 (Lampard, Defoe) Slovenia 1 (Ljubijankic), Friendly, September 2009
Stats…
England’s current FIFA World Ranking (20) is their lowest since June 1996 (24)
England are one of only three teams (also Croatia and Iceland) yet to concede in Euro 2016 quals
35-year-old Milivoje Novakovič is Slovenia’s player to watch, having scored all three of their goals
Dalibor Stevanović has been booked in all three group games so far
A win would be England’s fifth in a row, their longest streak since 2008 (September – November)
A clean sheet would be England’s sixth in a row, best streak since 2006 (June – October)
Source: The Independent, SportsMole, WhoScored
