Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford will start for England against Malta at Wembley tonight, according to Sky Sports senior reporter Rob Dorsett.
The Three Lions are currently top of Group C in the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championships and have already secured qualification for next summer’s tournament courtesy of their win over Italy at Wembley last month.
However, only the top five best-performing countries throughout the qualifying campaign will be top seeds for the draw in Hamburg in December.
While four points across both fixtures should be enough, picking up all six points against Malta and North Macedonia would confirm England’s place in the first pot.
Today’s game is crucial for the Three Lions and manager Gareth Southgate is sticking with the Man United star despite his poor form.
He has bagged just one goal in his last 16 appearances for the Red Devils. However, he has scored two goals across the Euro qualifiers for England.
Southgate is not interested in club form when it comes to making his squad selection and picking his starting XI for the nation, with Harry Maguire constantly featuring when he was regularly on the bench at Man United last term and earlier this season.
Al-Ettifaq midfielder Jordan Henderson and out-of-favour Manchester City man Kalvin Phillips are also regulars with England, and Rashford will continue to get the nod as long as he remains in the good books of the Three Lions boss.
The Red Devils will hope the 26-year-old can use his time with the national team to get back to form as they need him to start firing on all cylinders again amid their struggles this season.
They resume Premier League action on November 26 with a visit to Everton before travelling to Turkey to face Galatasaray in a potentially season-defining Champions League group game three days later.
