By Niall Clarke
- England top their qualifying group with a maximum of 15 points
- No fresh injury concerns
- Rooney closing in on Sir Bobby Charlton’s goal scoring record
England will look to make it six wins out six as they travel to Slovenia in Sunday’s Euro 2016 qualifying match.
The Three Lions have won all five of their qualifying matches thus far including a 3-1 win at home to Slovenia in November.
A Jordan Henderson own goal was cancelled out by a Wayne Rooney penalty that night, before a brace from Danny Welbeck sealed victory for England. They will look for a similar result when they travel to Slovenia on Sunday.
The goal conceded that November night at Wembley is the only one England have let in so far in the qualifying campaign. At the other end of the pitch, the statistics also read well for them as they have put a total of 15 goals past the opposition – an average of three per match.
England come off an un-remarkable stalemate against Ireland last week, with the Irish goal barely threatened. The only good news for England fans to come out of the match in Dublin was that the backline was barely breached by a plucky Ireland side.
Slovenia are joint second in the group with Switzerland with three wins and two losses from the opening five games. They lost to Estonia in their opener, but bounced back with an impressive 1-0 win over a good Switzerland side.
A 2-0 win in Lithuania gave the Slovenians more valuable points, and after the 3-1 defeat at Wembley they struck six past a poor San Marino. Whilst England plodded to dreary goalless draw against the Irish, Slovenia somehow managed an even poorer result, losing 1-0 away at Qatar.
The blank score sheet last week meant that Wayne Rooney continues to wait for his record breaking 50th goal, which would send him to the top of England’s all-time top scorers list.
The Manchester United striker currently stands at 47, two shy of the legendary Bobby Charlton. A hat trick this weekend would see Rooney break the record.
There are no fresh injury concerns to report after training, so Roy Hodgson will have a fully fit squad to choose from. Charlie Austin will be hoping to make his England debut after missing out on the opportunity last week.