England will be looking to get back to winning ways after their 1-0 loss to Germany in a friendly match on Wednesday. Gareth Southgate and his men are set to take on Lithuania in their Group F World Cup qualifier match at Wembley Stadium later today as they look to maintain their unbeaten run.
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England are currently top of the group with 10 points while Lithuania are in fourth position with five points and need a win here to keep the hopes of qualifying alive.
A minute's silence will be observed and a pre-match wreath-laying ceremony will be held for the victims of the Westminster attack in central London on Wednesday. Wembley Stadium's arch will be lit up in red and white and England players will wear black armbands.
England have been in incredible form in the qualifiers as they have not lost a qualification match since October 2009, taking their unbeaten tally to 33. They are also the only team, apart from Germany, who are yet to lose in European World Cup qualification.
Southgate has a few injuries and suspensions to deal with ahead of this match with Captain Gary Cahill being the biggest absentee with a suspension. Joe Hart will take his place as captain for the night. Michail Antonio, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were forced to withdraw due to injuries.
The England manager played with a three man defence against Germany and the 46-year-old wants his players to adapt against different opponents.
"It's not certain we will play the same way. It depends on the opposition and how we think we can hurt them. We have got the flexibility to play a number of different ways and it's important our players feel able to do that. We have to be adaptable as we go through the next 18 months. We need to be able to change quickly within games as well as at the start of games. It's a key skill for us to develop," BBC quoted the England Manager as saying.
Things don't look too good for Lithuania as their away form has been terrible in the qualifiers. They have not won a single away match in six games having lost four and drawn two. Their task will become even more difficult as they have a number of key players missing for this match. Edwin Girdvainis, George Freidgeimas and Vytautas Andriuskevicius are all set to miss this match through injuries.
Despite Lithuania going into this match as the underdogs, their manager Edgaras Jankauskas is hoping his team can cause an upset just like Iceland did against England.
"Iceland would be a great example to follow, but it will be an extremely tough game for us. There are many examples where not necessarily the favourites win the game. We know we play against top, top players, representing the best league in the world," Jankauskas said.
"In my opinion of course England has to achieve more than it has done recently. But we know probably the reasons why that happened - because the Premier League is the best league in the world, it's very famous and has the very best foreign players coming to play there. That can push the local players to the side a bit," he added.
Where to watch
The World Cup qualifier match between England and Lithuania is set to start at 4.00pm GMT (9.30pm IST, 12.00pm EST)
TV and Live streaming information
India: TV: Sony Six HD. Live Streaming: SonyLiv.
UK: TV: UTV, ITV 1. Radio: BBC Radio 5.
USA: TV: Fox Sports 2. Live Streaming: Fox Sports GO.
Lithuania: TV: LTR.
Africa: TV: Startimes Sports Premium.
