San Marino vs. England, Euro 2016 Qualifier: Team News, Preview, Stream, TV Info

It may only be San Marino, but there's a real sense of occasion about England's trip to face the Group E minnows this weekend.

Victory for Roy Hodgson's side will see them qualify for Euro 2016 with three games to spare. And if they follow up with another win against Switzerland next week, they will win their qualification group.

Added to that, should Wayne Rooney score two or more goals against San Marino, he will become England's all-time highest goalscorer, usurping Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 49.

When these teams last faced each other in October last year, England came away easy winners with a 5-0 victory at Wembley.

Rooney scored on that occasion, and after his recent Champions league hat-trick for Manchester United, he will be feeling confident.

In terms of this outing against San Marino, Hodgson has urged his players to continue their winning streak and take their form into next summer's European Championship in France.

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Swansea City midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has been called up to the latest squad and revealed the manager is urging his players not to ease their foot off the pedal with qualification in sight, according to the Guardian:

"

There’s no reason why the England team, with the players we've got in this country, can’t go to the European Championships and win it.

That’s what Roy Hodgson wants us to do and what we all want to do. It was quite an upbeat meeting [the team had this week]. He also spoke about winning all 10 games in the group and hopefully we can go out and do that. There’s no reason why we can’t and I think we've got the ability in the team. No matter who plays, I feel anyone can do a job. But first we must get these two wins. The manager just made it clear he wants us to win and I’m sure we can.

"

Given San Marino are ranked 193rd in the world, it's difficult to imagine anything less than three points for the Three Lions on Saturday.

Match Details

Date: Saturday, September 5

Time: 5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET

Venue: San Marino Stadium, San Marino

TV Info: ITV1 (UK only)

Live Stream: ITV Player (UK only)

Last Five Games

England remain undefeated in Euro 2016 qualifying, taking a 100 per cent win record into this fixture. In contrast, San Marino have collected just one point from their six games and are yet to score a goal.

October 14, 2014	San Marino 0-4 Switzerland
November 15, 2014	San Marino 0-0 Estonia
March 27, 2015	Slovenia 6-0 San Marino
March 31, 2015	Liechtenstein 1-0 San Marino
June 14, 2015	Estonia 2-0 San Marino

November 18, 2015	Scotland 1-3 England
March 27, 2015	England 4-0 Lithuania
March 31, 2015	Italy 1-1 England
June 7, 2015	Republic of Ireland 0-0 England
June 14, 2015	Slovenia 2-3 England

Predicted Lineups

Both squads are fully fit, so with qualification for Euro 2016 to secure, expect Roy Hodgson to play his best attacking team. That could mean a three-pronged attack to utilise Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.

San Marino (5-4-1): Aldo Simoncini; Giovanni Bonini, Cristian Brolli, Alessandro Della Valle, Mirko Palazzi, Manuel Battistini; Jose Hirsch, Luca Tosi, Lorenzo Gasperoni, Mario Vitaioli; Mattia Stefanelli

England (4-3-3): Joe Hart; Nathaniel Clyne, Gary Cahill, John Stones, Luke Shaw; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley, James Milner; Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney

Players to Watch

Harry Kane

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He's been criticised for not finding the back of the net for Tottenham Hotspur this season, but Harry Kane insists the goals will come for him and that he's not a one-season wonder, as reported by BBC Sport:

"

I don't think last year was lucky. I worked very hard to get where I was.

As a striker you always go through spells when you're on fire and sometimes it doesn't go your way, but I'm full of self-belief that I've got goals in me.

My start to the season has been OK. It could have been better. I would like to have scored by now but football doesn't always work like that.

"

Facing minnows San Marino, Kane would expect to get on the scoresheet on Saturday and add to his one international goal.

Given his poor goalscoring form of late, however, it means this game comes with added pressure, and the knives will be sharpened if he doesn't register against Group E's bottom team.

Andy Selva

At 39, it's anyone's guess how long Andy Selva will continue to play international football.

San Marino are yet to register a goal in Euro 2016 qualifying, but if they are to trouble England, you'd expect Selva is the man to do that.

He is San Marino's leading all-time goalscorer with eight goals to his name in 69 appearances.

Outside of Selva, just two other current San Marino players have registered goals for their country: defender Alessandro Della Valle and striker Danilo Rinaldi.

It's a stat that outlines what little threat they have in front of goal. If Selva appears from the bench, he will be San Marino's biggest threat.

PAUL ELLIS/Getty Images

Prediction

San Marino 0-6 England

Odds

Home win: 100-1

Away win: 1-100

Draw: 40-1

First goalscorer: Wayne Rooney (11-5)

*Odds via Oddschecker