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England vs Czech Republic, Euro 2020 Group A qualifier: What time is kick-off, what TV channel is it on and what is our prediction?

Gareth Southgate has a depleted England squad but is confident of victory over the Czech Republic - AFP
Gareth Southgate has a depleted England squad but is confident of victory over the Czech Republic - AFP

What is it?

It's England's first qualifying match in Group A on the road to the peripatetic Euro 2020 finals against the group's second seeds, the Czech Republic.

When is it?

Friday March 22, 2019, this very evening, at Wembley Stadium.

What time is kick-off?

Portuguese referee Artur Soares Dias will give a blast of his Acme Thunderer at 7.45pm to get the match underway.

What TV channel is it on?

The game will be broadcast on free-to-air television in the United Kingdom, on ITV. The show will be hosted by Mark 'Pougers' Pougatch and feature all your favourite regular England pundits including Ian Wright Wright Wright and Glenn Hoddle. Fear not if cannot watch the match unfold live or if you enjoy a second screen experience,  you can follow all the action right here with the one and only @FootballCliches. Simply bookmark this page and return on Friday evening for all the build-up, team news, minute-by-minute commentary and on-the-whistle match analysis from Sam Wallace and Jason Burt.

What is the team news?

England have had to make changes from the squad named after the last round of FA Cup and Premier League fixtures due to injuries. Marcus Rashford withdrew on Thursday following Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabian Delph, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, John Stones and Luke Shaw out of the squad. After call-ups, these are the men Gareth Southgate will chose from tonight:

Jack Butland (Stoke City), Tom Heaton (Burnley), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Michael Keane (Everton), Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), James Tarkowski (Burnley), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ross Barkley (Chelsea), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Declan Rice (West Ham United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Callum Wilson (Bournemouth).

England's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford attends an England team training session at St George's Park  - Credit: PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images
Jordan Pickford retains his place in goal despite recent wobbles with Everton Credit: PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images

Southgate said on Thursday that he will keep faith with Jordan Pickford in goal and that he would have no hesitation in picking either Jadon Sancho or Callum Hudson-Odoi to play in the Rashford role.

Jaroslav Silhavy, who took over as Czech Republic manager last year after leading Slavia Prague to the title in 2017. has named the following squad:

Jiri Pavlenka (Werder Bremen), Tomas Koubek (Stade Rennes), Ondrej Celustka (Antalyaspor), Theo Gebre Selassie (Werder Bremen), Filip Novak (Trabzonspor), Pavel Kaderabek (Hoffenheim), Ondrej Kudela (Slavia), Tomas Kalas (Bristol City), Marek Suchy (Basel), Vladimir Coufal (Slavia),  Jakub Jankto (Sampdoria), Tomas Soucek (Slavia), Lukas Masopust (Slavia), David Pavelka (Kasimpasa), Alex Kral (Slavia), Jaromir Zmrhal (Slavia), Matej Vydra (Burnley), Patrik Schick (Roma).

What are they saying?

Jadon’s profile is much higher because of his opportunities [at Borussia Dortmund] and that’s understandable but, in terms of quality, right the way through their careers it’s been on a par. Callum has people like [Eden] Hazard ahead of him and it’s a different landscape for him but he’ll be absolutely fine, no doubt.
England manager Gareth Southgate

That was a great experience back in 1996 and we have some players like Karel Poborsky here to support us,. “We didn’t speak about 1996, we spoke about 2008 when we had a draw here. We really enjoyed that so I have talked about that because I was part of that. We would like to repeat that result.
Czech Republic manager Jaroslav Silhavy

What are the best odds?

  • England 3/10

  • Draw 9/2

  • Czech Republic 12/1

What's our prediction?

England have not lost a Euro qualifier since 2007 and are not going to do son on Friday night. Czech Republic won in Slovakia and Poland last autumn and are a decent, compact side without the ball but carry very little creative threat.
Prediction England 3 Czech Republic 0