Kosovo 0-1 England LIVE: Score and updates, Tottenham star Harry Winks on target

KOSOVO 0-1 ENGLAND | WINKS (32)

Kosovo XI: Muric, Hadergjonaj, Aliti, Rashica, Celina, Rrahmani, Berisha, Vojvoda,Kololli Dresevic, Nuhiu

England XI: Pope, Alexander-Arnold, Maguire, Mings, Chilwell; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rice, Winks; Sterling, Kane, Hudson-Odoi

• Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain plays in Harry Winks, who coverts from close range

KOSOVO 0-1 ENGLAND

54: Florent Hadergjonaj strolls past Ben Chilwell but the Leicester defender recovers to block his cross. Good recovery but poor positioning. The corner is swung deep to an unmarked Rrahmani, who inexplicably heads it back to the corner flag. Should be 1-1.

51: Close! Comedy of errors from England with Trent Alexander-Arnold losing his marker before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shanks a clearance behind his own goal. Kosovo work it nicely with Valon Berisha capitalising on some static defending to fire inches wide of Nick Pope’s right post.

48: Well Harry Maguire was picked up by the pitch-side microphone asking for more tempo from his colleagues. Seems to have fallen on deaf ears because England are playing in a very leisurely manner.

KOSOVO 0-1 ENGLAND

45: And we’re back underway folks. No changes for Gareth Southgate’s side. Will need to see more from Callum Hudson-Odoi in this second period – not many opportunities left to impress before next year’s competition.

KOSOVO 0-1 ENGLAND

HT: Advantage England thanks to Harry Winks. It’s not been a particularly interesting game but Gareth Southgate will take a few positives.

45: Nick Pope and Tyrone Mings are caught in a muddle at the back with the Burnley goalkeeper unable to keep the backpass from going behind. Raheem Sterling turns defender for a few moments and does well to usher the ball out of play.

43: Swansea’s Bersant Celina receives the ball just outside the penalty area. He’s caught in two minds on whether to cross or shoot – in the end he does neither.

40: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been directly involved in six goals in his last seven games for club and country (five goals, one assist); one more than in his previous 30 appearances across all competitions (one goal, four assists).

38: He’s not had a great deal to do this afternoon – but I do like Aston Villa centre-back Tyrone Mings in there next to Harry Maguire. He’s good with the ball at his feet and it’s always welcome to have a bit of bite in defence.

35: That goal has knocked the stuffing out of Kosovo and their supporters. It’s all gone extremely quiet on the pitch and in the stands as England dictate the the tempo.

KOSOVO 0-1 ENGLAND | WINKS

32: GOAL! So… It appears I’ll have to apologies to Harry Winks for my early comments. It turns out he’s pretty effective in the No.10 position!

It’s a strange goal in that it appeared to happen in slow motion. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pings a cross field pass to the Tottenham midfielder, who coolly slots past Arijanet Muric.

30: Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi embarks on a mazy solo run forward and he eventually finds enough space to have an effort. Arijanet Muric grabs it rather easily. Still nothing clicking for the visitors. I read that Real Madrid were interested in signing him today. Don’t shoot the messenger.

Twitter reaction

Duncan: I’m not sure whether Rice is too deep or the other two are too advanced, but there are some big gaps in the England midfield. This three are not working as a unit right now.

Sam: Kosovo pressing effectively with four in a diamond shape working hard to stop any ball out into the central area they enclose. Happy to let England centre-backs have possession & then stop pass into midfield.

27: Benjamin Kololli decides to have a crack from distance but his 35-yard effort is gobbled up by Nick Pope. That would have gone down in Kosovo folklore. Maybe. Don’t really know. Never been there. I’ll move on…

24: You can probably tell I’m not a huge fan of this Declan Rice/Harry Winks midfield pairing. It could just be that they’ve not played together much – but the balance isn’t right. Just occupying the same space.

21: Still not seeing the slick, skilful football we’ve grown used to from England. In fact, It’s Kosovo on the front-foot as we speak with Rashica glancing a corner on target – beat Declan Rice in the air all too easily.

19: What happened to England’s set-piece threat? I remember Harry Maguire and Co. formed something dubbed ‘The Love Train’ as the delivery was swung in before splintering inside the box. All quite static now.

16: Save! England’s best chance of the evening falls to Raheem Sterling. Harry Kane pokes it wide to the Manchester City star, who leathers it at City teammate Arijanet Muric. The resulting corner fails to beat the first Kosovo defender.

13: England haven’t been able to get Callum Hudson-Odoi or Raheem Sterling involved yet. Quite narrow from the Three Lions with Declan Rice and Harry Winks looking a little unsure playing alongside each other.

11: The Three Lions have a habit of either scoring or conceding in the first 11 minutes of matches. I’m irritated to inform you that record has not continued this evening. Very few chances or openings to speak of.

In their defence, this pitch isn’t up to much. The surface isn’t slick and there are one or two surprise bobbles appearing every now and then.

8: Harry Maguire leaves his defensive duties behind with a lung-busting run through the heart of the Kosovo midfield. He exchanges a one-two with Harry Kane before acrobatically thumping it against a defender.

Nick Pope is drawn into action for the first time today as Sheffield Wednesday’s Atdhe Nuhiu beats Tyrone Mings in the air. Fairly easy save.

5: Well I must admit with all the talk of 300,000 people applying for tickets and it being the biggest night in Kosovo’s sporting history – I was expecting a more intimidating atmosphere. All quite nice and pleasant so far.

3: Phew! It’s always a worrying time when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hits the deck. He looks to have rolled his ankle but after a quick spell off the field – he’s up and about again. Such terrible luck with injuries over the last five years.

KOSOVO 0-0 ENGLAND

1: And we’re underway folks! The European Championship qualifying campaign is nearly over. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

They might not be able to qualify through the group stages, but Kosovo had over 300,000 applications for tickets tonight and the atmosphere is electric. They want this bad and some have even dubbed it the biggest sporting occasion in their history.

Best in the world!

16:30: Oh, flattery will get you nowhere Mr Challandes. But we appreciate it.

Kosovo manager Bernard Challandes to ITV: “We have seen all this campaign, England has the best offensive team in the world. They are the favourite for the European Championship.

“There is big enthusiasm within the team. People are very proud of the team. The good feeling with the support can help, particularly today. We have never lost here but we have never played against such a team as England.”

The permutations…

16:20: Always love using the word ‘permutations’. A word NEVER used outside of sport. Quite similar to ‘adverse weather conditions’ used only for useless rail services…

Group C

Holland’s head-to-head advantage over Northern Ireland sees them qualify alongside Germany. Northern Ireland and Belarus will enter the play-offs, but the former could yet move up to a higher tier depending on results in groups D and E.

Group D

The Republic of Ireland need to beat Denmark on Monday to beat them to a qualifying spot. The only way both teams could qualify is in the unlikely event Switzerland lose to Gibraltar. Again, the odd team out will go forward to the play-offs along with Georgia.

Group E

Croatia have qualified, with Wales needing to beat Hungary to pip them to second place. The loser has a play-off safety net and Slovakia will also be involved at that stage.

English brothers

16:10: Well this makes a nice change…

Locals have put up hundreds of St George’s flags and welcome banners as an extraordinary greeting shown to England’s players and supporters in Kosovo.

The Three Lions’ travels often bring a sense of trepidation for host cities, yet Europe’s newest country are going above and beyond in Pristina.

‘Welcome and respect’ banners featuring poppies can be seen from the airport to the main drag in the capital, where many waiters and waitresses are wearing specially made tops greeting England.

The United Kingdom was part of the international coalition which forced the Serbian forces to withdraw following clashes with ethnic Albanians in the territory in the late 1990s.

The UK was one of the first countries to recognise the newly independent Kosovo in 2008 and became a shelter for thousands of Kosovan refugees, leading to a show of warmth and generosity rarely experienced.

Twitter reaction

David: Abraham and Tomori can’t even get a start when England has already qualified and the opponents are fishermen from Estonia. Southgate will not dare stop Harry Kane from breaking England’s goal scoring record. He will never pick Abraham over him!

Harry: Gareth Southgate still hasn’t got a clue

Josh: Is James Maddison injured or is Gareth Southgate just choosing not to start him again?

Nice and succinct there, Harry. Could you elaborate?

Who’s in?

16:00: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine have all qualified for next summer’s tournament.

The draw will take place on November 30 in Bucharest.

Ronnie record

15:55: Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 99th international goal against Luxembourg this afternoon – but he still looks devastated not have have notched up 100.

I’d like to say it was a stunner but he prodded home from less than an inch away. They all count!

Team News

15:50: Raheem Sterling returned to the England side as boss Gareth Southgate made five changes for the final Euro 2020 qualifier against Kosovo.

With the Three Lions visiting Pristina for the first time, Southgate recalled Sterling after he was not considered for selection in the 7-0 victory over Montenegro on Thursday.

The Manchester City forward was doled the punishment after an altercation with Liverpool’s Joe Gomez at St George’s Park on Monday.

Meanwhile, Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope made his first England start, while Tyrone Mings, Declan Rice and Callum Hudson-Odoi also came in.

The starting XI

15:40: And Gareth Southgate reveals the starting XI for today’s clash. Quite a few changes as expected with Nick Pope, Tyrone Mings, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Declan Rice all start.

Raheem Sterling returns after the altercation with Joe Gomez.

Kosovo XI: Muric, Hadergjonaj, Aliti, Rashica, Celina, Rrahmani, Berisha, Vojvoda,Kololli Dresevic, Nuhiu

Subs: Ujkani, Bekaj, Voca, Shala, Rashkaj, Halimi, Muslija, Rashani, Hasani, Paqarada, Zhegrova, Xhemajli

England XI: Pope, Alexander-Arnold, Maguire, Mings, Chilwell; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rice, Winks; Sterling, Kane, Hudson-Odoi.

Subs: Trippier, Pickford, Rose, Stones, Tomori, Mount, Maddison, Sancho, Rashford, Wilson, Abraham, Henderson.

The situation

15:35: I’ve tried various ways of jazzing this up to sound more exciting – but it’s pretty cut and dried in Group A.

England have won the group, with the Czech Republic confirmed in second. Kosovo will go into the play-offs as a Nations League D group winner, as will Bulgaria due to the League C rankings – though they could yet move into a higher tier.

Obviously it’s insane that Bulgaria have the opportunity to qualify via the play-offs having failed to win a single fixture – but the Nations League is far beyond my paygrade.

Afternoon…

15:30: Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Kosovo vs England.

How’s about a bit of international football to cure the boredom on this fine Sunday afternoon? Well it’s either that or Kung Fu Panda 2 on Channel 4…

Actually, Kung Fu Panda 2 sounds like the better option.

But if you’re sticking around then I suppose you can join me for an afternoon of Euro 2020 qualifying action that’s likely to throw up more than a few goals.

I’ll bring you the line ups and team news any moment now. Standby…

KOSOVO vs ENGLAND

England manager Gareth Southgate will likely make an abundance of changes to the team that secured Euro 2020 qualification when the Three Lions take on Kosovo.

While Joe Gomez isn’t available for the Kosovo clash, it’s likely that Southgate elects to stick with Harry Maguire, but he may partner the Manchester United defender with Tyrone Mings.

On the left, Danny Rose could make an appearance with Atletico Madrid star Kieran Trippier on the opposing side.

In the middle of the park, Southgate could give Declan Rice game time with Oxlade-Chamberlain likely to retain his place just in front of the West Ham man.

Jordan Henderson was in line for a start but will miss out through illness so Harry Winks may keep his spot in the starting XI.

Up front, we may see a Chelsea-themed front three, including Abraham, who scored his first England goal in the win over Montenegro.

To the right of him Callum Hudson-Odoi is expected to start from the off in what will be a big opportunity to impress Southgate.

And to the right of Abraham will most likely be Sterling, who Southgate will want to get back into the side as soon as possible, following his exile from the Montenegro game.