England are just one point away from qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, they face Slovenia at Wembley on Thursday and they need to avoid defeat in order to secure top spot in Group F. The reverse fixture was not easy for England, it ended goalless but the Three Lions needed a few good saves from Joe Hart to avoid defeat in Slovenia. The two teams have also met in the qualification campaign for Euro 2016 and back then England won 3-1 at home and 3-2 in Slovenia.
Despite their early troubles, England are about to conclude their World Cup qualifying campaign with a game to spare, all they need to do is avoid defeat against Slovenia on Thursday. England won 4-0 in Malta and 2-1 at home against Slovakia at the start of September and now they have a comfortable five-point advantage over second-placed Slovakia in Group F. Dele Alli is suspended for this match, while Phil Jones and Fabian Delph were withdrawn from the squad because of injury.
The match has high stakes for Slovenia as they battle with Slovakia and Scotland for second place in Group F and a ticket for the play-offs. Slovenia and Scotland are just one point behind Slovakia, so the race is wide open for all three teams. Slovenia suffered a costly 1-0 defeat in Slovakia at the start of September, but they recovered with a 4-0 victory over Lithuania three days later. Head coach Srecko Katanec will most likely use the same formation and players that held England to a goalless draw in the reverse fixture.
Probable line-ups:
England: Hart - Walker, Stones, Cahill, Bertrand - Henderson, Dier, Livermore - Sterling, Kane, Rashford
Slovenia: Oblak - Skubic, Mevlja, Cesar, Jokic - Verbic, Kurtic, Krhin - Birsa - Ilicic, Bezjak
My prediction: England to win 1-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
England win - 1.33
Draw - 5.25
Slovenia win - 12.00
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