Good evening! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's match as England continue their quest to reach the 2018 World Cup against group whipping boys Malta at the Ta'Qali National Stadium. Anything other than a comfortable England victory would come as a major surprise in this match, but Malta will be hopeful of putting up some resistance in search of their first point of the qualifying campaign. First things first, though - let's check out the team news...

MALTA STARTING XI: Hogg; Magri, Borg, Agius, Fenech, Schembri, Muscat, Farrugia, Kristensen, Zerafa, Pisani

MALTA SUBS: Mifsud, Gambin, Bonello, Camilleri, A Muscat, Failla, Fenech, Borg, Johnson

ENGLAND STARTING XI: Hart; Walker, Cahill, Jones, Bertrand; Livermore, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling, Alli; Kane

ENGLAND SUBS: Defoe, Stones, Vardy, Heaton, Keane, Cresswell, Chalobah, Smalling, Welbeck, Sturridge, Butland, Rashford

What can we make of those two sides, then? Well, we'll briefly start with the hosts, who welcome Jean Paul Farrugia back into the fold after he served a suspension in the last match. Effiong is not available tonight due to a ban of his own, though, and in all manager Pietro Ghedin has made three changes from the side that lost to Slovenia last time out. Zerafa, Magri and Farrugia all come into the side, while Muscat, Failla and Effiong drop out.

There may be a couple of familiar names in the Malta squad for fans of English football, the most famous of which is Michael Mifsud. The former Coventry striker is Malta's most capped player (124) and highest goalscorer (40) of all time, but as has been the case in recent times he only makes the bench tonight. Elsewhere, Sam Magri plies his trade in England for Ebbsfleet Town, while Luke Gambin is on the books at Luton. Schembri, who captains Malta tonight, plays for Cypriot side Apollon Limassol, who will face Everton in the Europa League group stages.

For Gareth Southgate, this is the first match of the post-Wayne Rooney era and as such he had a decision to make regarding his captain. England have had five different skippers in their last eight matches, and it is Liverpool's Jordan Henderson to gets the armband tonight. In addition to Rooney, Harry Kane, Joe Hart and Gary Cahill have all led their country out recently, but Henderson is given the honour this evening. Southgate has suggested that he will continue to rotate the armband amongst his squad, though.

Another interesting decision Southgate had to make in the build-up to this match was who to choose as his number one. Joe Hart's performances have been called into question for over a year now, and 10 goals conceded from his three games for West Ham so far this season have certainly not helped matters. There is more competition for the number one spot than any time in recent memory too, with Heaton and Butland available tonight and Pickford and Forster also in the mix. Southgate confirmed yesterday that he would keep faith with Hart, though, claiming that the long-time number one remains England best goalkeeper.

Elsewhere, there is a notable start for new Liverpool signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was the Premier League's most expensive player on deadline day when he completed a £40m switch from Arsenal. There are no Arsenal players in the starting lineup tonight, but the Ox will be playing in midfield alongside his new skipper at club level Henderson. Indeed, this will be Henderson's first England appearance since November 2016 due to his injury troubles during the second half of last season.

Also in midfield tonight is Jake Livermore, who is starting to become a recognised member of the England senior squad having been included by Gareth Southgate on a number of occasions now. He is expected to sit deep alongside Henderson while Oxlade-Chamberlain, Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli get forward to help the lone striker Harry Kane. Alli was on the scoresheet in the reverse fixture, alongside Daniel Sturridge.

Sturridge only makes the bench this evening, though, with Kane getting the nod up front despite once again failing to score in the Premier League during the month of August. It is a curious curse for a player who has gone on to win the Golden Boot in both of the past two seasons, but at least this time he is not being questioned with one-season wonder tags. Few would argue that Kane is England's primary striker right now, but the likes of Sturridge are right in the mix as well and Defoe, Rashford and Welbeck can also do some damage on their day.

There are two players who could make their debuts for England tonight, but neither Harry Maguire nor Nathaniel Chalobah make the starting lineup this evening. Interestingly, Southgate looks set to switch back to a 4-2-3-1 formation having toyed with 3-4-2-1 in recent internationals. Walker returns to the fold for the first time since his big-money move to Manchester City, while Cahill and Jones retain their places in the side. Stones is the man to make way for the extra midfielder.

It is an England team packed with star talent - certainly compared with Malta's starting XI - and it could be quite a daunting task for the hosts tonight. Having said that, it could also be seen as a rare opportunity to play against players which most of this Malta team would usually only get to watch on television. Nobody is expecting the hosts to win tonight, so they will go into the game with no pressure on their shoulders.

Malta are undoubtedly amongst the minnows of world football, ranked 190th in FIFA's standings - 177 places below England and lower than the likes of Guam, the Cook Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Bangladesh, Macau and Bermuda - but interestingly they aren't on the end of as many hugely one-sided results as the other small teams. Gibraltar, for example, were thrashed by Belgium 9-0 last night, whereas Malta have only lost one of their last 10 games by more than a two-goal margin.

Of course, while the size of the defeat may not be too big, Malta are still losing the vast majority of their matches - including all six of the current qualifying campaign. Lithuania, who sit fifth in Group F, are five points clear of the pointless Malta now, and a match between those bottom two next month - which comes at home for Malta - looks to be Ghedin's best chance to get points on the board for his side. They are certainly unlikely to come during this break, with England being followed by an away trip to Scotland.

Malta did actually pick up a very rare victory as recently as June, beating Ukraine away from home in a very surprising result. However, that is the only match which they have not lost in their last eight outings, and it is also their only triumph in their last 18. You have to go back to June 2015 for their next most recent victory, which came against Lithuania.

Malta have now lost each of their last 10 World Cup qualifying games, with their most recent victory in this particular competition coming more than four years again when they beat Armenia 1-0 in June 2013. That atrocious run stretches back to 20 defeats from their last 21 World Cup qualifying games - the exception being that Armenia win, which is also their only triumph in their last 58 outings in this competition. During that run, which stretches back to 1993, they have won one, drawn five and lost 52.

Including European Championship qualifying as well, Malta have won just one of their last 55 competitive outings, losing 48 of those and drawing six. Malta's last competitive victory was that away triumph over Armenia in 2013, while you have to go back more than a decade for their most recent competitive win in front of their own fans - a 2-1 win over Hungary in 2006. Malta have never won a World Cup qualifier at home, losing 41 and drawing eight of their previous 49 outings.

It is more than two years since Malta picked up a win of any kind at home, beating Lithuania in a friendly in June 2015. They have now lost their last 10 home World Cup qualifying games, though, with their most recent point at home in this competition coming in February 2009 against Albania.

That should go some way to showing why anything other than a convincing England victory would be a surprise tonight, but while the visitors' form is by no means in the same league as Malta's, it is still worse than Gareth Southgate would like. The Three Lions come into tonight's match having won just one of their last five outings, and that came at home to Lithuania - whom even Malta have beaten relatively recently.

Such a statistic is unlikely to play a part in tonight's match, but what is does show is that England still have work to do before they will be able to seriously compete at the World Cup next year - should they even get there. Southgate has seen his side beaten by France and Germany in addition to being held to a draw by Scotland and Spain - the latter of which saw them surrender a two-goal lead in the dying stages. England competed in all of those games, but the results went against them and that is no good at a major tournament.

The most recent of those outings was the 3-2 defeat to France in June and, while a narrow loss to a team like Les Bleus - who are bristling with young and exciting talent at the moment - doesn't look too bad on first glance, France did have to play the vast majority of the second half with 10 men. Harry Kane gave England an early lead before goals from Umtiti and Sidibe put France into the break ahead. A red card for Varane in the early stages of the second half was quickly followed by another Kane goal, but England failed to make the most of their numerical advantage and eventually lost courtesy of a Dembele winner.

England are, however, unbeaten in their last 17 World Cup qualifiers since a 1-0 defeat to Ukraine in October 2009 - since when the Three Lions have gone through four different managers. They have also kept clean sheets in six of their last seven of those games - including five of six in the current campaign. Scotland are the only team to have scored against England in Group F so far, and Germany are the only team to have conceded fewer in all of the groups.

Scoring goals has been more of an issue, though, and England are not even the highest scorers in Group F heading into tonight's match. Southgate's side have scored just 10 times in their six outings so far - the lowest tally of any current group level and a whopping 23 behind leading scorers Belgium's tally - albeit having played a game fewer. England do remain top of their group, though, and tonight could see them take a big step towards the World Cup as their two closest challengers - Slovakia and Slovenia - face each other tonight too.

England are unbeaten in their last 35 qualifiers of any kind since that 2009 loss to Ukraine, winning 26 of those and drawing nine. However, it is at the tournament itself that they have disappointed far too often and hopes will not be too high of that changing if England reach Russia. England host Slovakia in the second leg of their international double header, which could give them a chance to move even further clearer of one of those two direct rivals.

England's away form has not exactly been encouraging recently, with Southgate yet to pick up a single win on the road since taking over. England's last away win in any competition came almost a year ago - in Sam Allardyce's solitary game at the helm - drawing with Scotland and Slovenia and losing to Germany and France since then. England have also only won one of their last five away World Cup qualifiers, drawing the remaining four. They are, however, unbeaten in their last 17 qualifiers of any kind on the road.

PREDICTION: We have 10 minutes to go until kickoff at the Ta'Qali National Stadium, which means that it is time for a prediction. The only real question tonight should be how many goals England win by. As I mentioned earlier, Malta are generally quite good at keeping the score from becoming embarrassing, while England have struggled for goals in the qualifying campaign so far, so I can't see this being a complete goal fest. England to win 3-0 for me, and Kane to get his first goal of the season!

A 3-0 victory tonight would actually be England's biggest ever victory in Malta. They have made the trip to this country twice before, winning 1-0 in 1971 courtesy of a Martin Peters goal and then coming out 2-1 victors on their most recent visit in 2000. Martin Keown and Emile Heskey scored either side of a Richard Wright own goal in that match, which saw Gareth Southgate left on the bench throughout.

It will come as no surprise to learn that England have won all four previous meetings with Malta, scoring 10 times and conceding just once in the process. They have only won one of those games by more than a two-goal margin, though - a 5-0 triumph at Wembley in 1971.

The reverse fixture at Wembley in October of last year was another comfortable victory, although the scoreline is not as emphatic as it should have been. In what was Southgate's first match at the helm, first-half goals from Sturridge and Alli proved to be enough for the Three Lions. England were expected to add to that advantage in the second half, but Malta held firm for a fairly respectable result.

Right, the players are out and the anthems are being belted out. We're just about ready to go, so let's have one final reminder of the teams tonight...

MALTA STARTING XI: Hogg; Magri, Borg, Agius, Fenech, Schembri, Muscat, Farrugia, Kristensen, Zerafa, Pisani

ENGLAND STARTING XI: Hart; Walker, Cahill, Jones, Bertrand; Livermore, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling, Alli; Kane

KICKOFF: Here we go then! England get us underway in Malta.

CHANCE! Chance for England inside the first minute as Kane threads the ball through for the Manchester City man, who takes it into his path. However, he hesitates before going for goal and that gives Hogg the chance to come out of goal and thwart the winger.

CLOSE! This would be some way to become the first Malta player to ever score against England. The ball drops to Fenech at least 30 yards from goal and he unleashes a brilliant volley with swerves just past the target. Hart looked calm enough about it, but he would not have got there.

CHANCE! It's all happening in these opening stages! England go up the other end and should have the lead as Kane climbs highest in the area before directing a firm header towards the bottom corner. Hogg reacts brilliantly, though, and pushes the ball away with a fine save.

This should be another chance for Kane as he is picked out by his former Tottenham teammate Walker, but his touch lets him down on the edge of the box.

Malta have not started this match too badly at all - they have spent a decent amount of time in the England half and are not parking the bus in these opening exchanges.

England work a corner short, with Henderson playing it to Sterling before getting the ball back. The captain tries to put it into the middle, but he scuffs it badly and it rolls into the arms of Hogg.

This is the closest we have come to a goal in the opening 10 minutes here, with Kane being denied by a very smart stop from Hogg...

CHANCE! Another chance for England as Oxlade-Chamberlain cuts the ball back to Henderson, who in turn sweeps a cross into the middle. Alli gets on the end of it, but blazes his off-balance shot well over the crossbar.

Almost a mistake from Hart as he tries to play out from the back but sells Cahill short. The chasing Malta striker doesn't seem to believe he can get it, but a quicker player may have punished Hart there.

Alli tries to flick the ball past his way inside the area, but it is all too tight in the box and Hogg is able to collect the ball before Alli can get it on the other side.

It took England almost half an hour to make the breakthrough in the reverse fixture, and there is still no way through so far. The visitors created those two early chances, but since then they have not really threatened Malta enough.

For a team who rarely record a win and are so far down FIFA's rankings, Malta are a very organised and disciplined outfit. Rarely do teams get an easy game against them like they may do against the Gibraltars and San Marinos of the world.

DISALLOWED GOAL! England have the ball in the back of the net as Jones nods Henderson's corner in, but the referee is quick to blow his whistle for a foul on the goalkeeper. It looked as though Cahill got in Hogg's way.

We're at the midway point of the first half now, and after a lively start this one has gone off the boil over the past 15 minutes or so.

Anyone else missing the Premier League already?

Hold your horses - England have a free kick in a good crossing position. Jordan Henderson stands over it...

The Liverpool skipper swings it into the middle and Kane tries to flick a backward header to help it on its way, but there is a defender there and it goes behind for a corner.

UPDATE: There has been a goal in one of the other matches in Group F, with Scotland taking the lead against Lithuania. Stuart Armstrong has broken the deadlock for the visitors in Vilnius as Scotland look to keep their slim hopes of World Cup qualification alive.

Not many goals from elsewhere in Europe, with Germany one up against Czech Republic and Denmark leading Poland by the same scoreline.

Here is that disallowed goal from earlier...

Kristensen is left writhing in agony on the far touchline after being caught by Sterling, whose poor touch saw him lose possession. Kristensen will be fine to continue, but he certainly felt that one from Sterling.

UPDATE: Scotland have now doubled their lead in Lithuania, and it is Liverpool's summer signing Andrew Robertson who has scored the goal.

Elsewhere in Group F it remains goalless between Slovakia and Slovenia - a good result for England - while away from the group Norway have taken the lead against Azerbaijan.

Nice link-up play between Kane and Oxlade-Chamberlain, but the return pass is cut out. The Malta defender's attempted clearance almost catches his own keeper out, but it loops safely over the bar in the end and the resulting corner comes to nothing.

There is not a great deal of space in the middle for England at the moment, and that is making it hard for them to create any chances. Malta are sitting back and refusing to be drawn out, packing the middle of the park and keeping England's attackers at bay.

There is a stoppage in play as Borg receives treatment, and that gives the players the chance to go over for drinks. Southgate takes the opportunity to have a word with his team, who are less than 10 minutes away from going into the break goalless against a team ranked 190th in the world.

The England fans have taken to singing some rather derogatory songs about their own team - the like of which I'm not sure I can repeat here.

The general gist of it is that England are not very good.

UPDATE: It's not just here that goals have been scarce - all around Europe it has been a fairly low-scoring opening 45 minutes. Denmark, though, are on their way to a very impressive result as they now lead Poland 2-0.

England will be in line for some serious criticism if this doesn't improve in the second half, but Malta do also deserve some credit for their first-half display. They have remained organised and disciplined, making things really tough for the visitors.

There will be two minutes of added time at the end of this first half.

SAVE! An increasingly rare shot for England as Oxlade-Chamberlain takes the ball down on the right side of the area before turn past his man. His eventual shot is tame, though, and the keeper makes a comfortable save.

Well, that wasn't great. England remain goalless in Malta at half time, and it has not been a good performance from the visitors so far. They made a bright enough start, but it has severely fizzled out since then to the extent that the half-time whistle was greeted with boos by the England fans. It is not too often that England fans turn on their team, so that gives some idea of how poor it has been.

Things may have been different had England broken the deadlock early, and they had a couple of chances inside the opening five minutes to do exactly that. Sterling squandered the first of those when he hesitated in the box, giving the goalkeeper the chance to come out and smother the ball at his feet. Kane then had a clear chance moments later, but his firm header was very well saved by Hogg. Aside from that, it has been slim pickings for the visitors - Alli has blazed one over and Oxlade-Chamberlain sent a tame shot easily into the arms of the keeper.

Malta have had one sight of goal themselves, and it came in the opening five minutes. It would have been a spectacular way to break the deadlock too, with Fenech firing a speculative 30-yard volley narrowly over the crossbar. Hart didn't look too worried about it, but it was not far away at all.

I fear this may not be the only damning statistic from that first half...

KICKOFF: Malta get us back underway for the second half, and the first thing to tell you is that England have made a change at the break in an effort to kick themselves into gear.

On comes Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, and off goes Raheem Sterling.

It is worth remembering that England have only ever won by a one-goal margin on their two previous visits to Malta, so this isn't completely uncharted territory. Even so, there is no denying that this has been a wholly uninspiring performance so far.

The opening five minutes of the second half don't suggest that much will change in terms of Malta's mindset. They are still crowding that middle area of the field.

SHOT! As I say that, Malta have a sight of goal and threaten to take a shock lead. Schembri hits one on the turn from around 25 yards, but it flashes a couple of yards past the post.

A warning shot for England nonetheless - I dread to think what the reaction would be if they fall behind!

FINALLY England make the breakthrough! It is Harry Kane who gets himself up and running for the season, stroking the ball home from close range after patient work from Alli.

The midfielder collected a loose ball after a punch from the goalkeeper only fell as far as the edge of the box, and he twists and turns looking to get a shot away. Some of the Malta defence are more concerned with blocking the goalline than getting out, and that allows Alli to slip a pass to an onside Kane, who makes no mistake.

That is the first real piece of defensive indiscipline that we have seen from Malta tonight - certainly since the opening five minutes - and they have been punished for it. That goal should also calm England down, and hopefully now they can kick on.

Here is that opening goal from Kane - his fourth in his last three England appearances...

SHOT! Shooting chance for Sam Magri as he is not challenged when striding forward down the left. He eventually lets fly from range, but his effort is comfortably wide of the target.

UPDATE: Denmark look like being the biggest winners of the night - they now lead Poland 3-0 in Copenhagen. Their Scandinavian neighbours Norway have also doubled their lead against Azerbaijan.

SAVE! Hogg is called into another save here as Kane is afforded space to shoot from around 25 yards out. It is a decent, powerful strike, but Hogg is equal to it.

This game is not entirely over just yet. Malta come forward threateningly as Pisani is released down the right channel, and it takes a good piece of defending from Cahill to block the cross.

England's goal will lessen the growing fears that they might not win this game, but Malta are the type of opponent who fans will feel should be beaten by a much more convincing margin - and in much more convincing fashion. The main thing is the three points, of course, but England will need some more goals in the final 25 minutes if they are to limit the criticism they are bound to be in for after tonight.

Kyle Walker needs to be alert in the England box as the ball almost breaks for Schembri. There have been enough moments in this match for Malta to feel that they are still in with a chance of nicking a draw here, which would be a superb result for them.

England haven't really kicked on since taking the lead here. It is still rather laboured from the visitors, who haven't been able to go up a few gears so far.

ENGLAND SUB: Perhaps Jamie Vardy may be the man to spark that move through the gears - he replaces Alli.

...and after a brief stoppage during which a pitch invader was dealt with, we are back underway. Less than 20 minutes remaining!

Half a chance for Vardy within a couple of minute of him coming on. Rashford clips the ball into the box for the Leicester man, but he can't get his foot around it enough to turn it on target.

SHOT! Oxlade-Chamberlain tries his luck from range, but he drags his effort a long way wide.

MALTA SUB: Malta make their first change of the evening as the injured Zefara is replaced by Ryan Camilleri.

SAVE! Rashford is the latest to go for goal from range, but this is a much better effort and the swerving strike needs to be pushed away by Hogg.

ENGLAND SUB: England make their third and final change of the evening as Danny Welbeck replaces his now former Arsenal teammate Oxlade-Chamberlain.

UPDATE: There have been developments elsewhere in Europe to update you on, including a third goal for Scotland in Lithuania, James McArthur getting it.

Elsewhere, Northern Ireland took their time to take the lead against San Marino but they have just scored three goals in the space of eight minutes to spare their own blushes. Also in that group, Czech Republic have levelled the scores against Germany, while elsewhere Denmark now lead Poland 4-0.

Just 10 minutes remain in this match now and still the deficit is only one goal. You would, of course, expect England to safely see the game out, but at 1-0 you never know.

UPDATE: There has been another goal elsewhere in Group F, and it is a significant one for England as Slovakia have taken the lead against Slovenia.

Adam Nemec's goal means that - as things stand - the gap from England to Slovakia will remain two points heading into Monday's meeting between the two sides at Wembley.

MALTA SUB: Malta make another change as Paul Fenech replaces Ryan Fenech.

That makes things look a little better.

Bertrand doubles England's tally for the evening with a long-range strike which dips past Hogg and into the corner. The keeper has played well in both games against England, but he should have done better there. He saw it all the way, but was slow to get down and could not keep it out.

MALTA SUB: The hosts make a change in the immediate aftermath of that goal as Michael Mifsud adds to his record appearance tally.

Here is that Ryan Bertrand goal - his first for England at any level!

England add a third in stoppage time, and suddenly this evening doesn't seem too bad - particularly as my prediction seems to be spot on.

Kane adds an assist to his goal with a fine curling ball into the box, and Welbeck beats the keeper to the ball and lifts it over the keeper.

Kane ruins my prediction, the swine, but England have their fourth and they are filling their boots here.

It is a second of the night for the Tottenham striker as he latches on to Rashford's pass forward before slamming his finish past the keeper. Malta are not happy as they had a man down - and Walker was even telling Rashford to kick the ball out - but the goal stands and England fans will be a lot happier with that scoreline.

Well, around 10 minutes ago this looked like being an unconvincing and uninspiring 1-0 for England against the minnows of Malta. However, three late goals have made the scoreline look a lot better as England remain two points clear of Slovakia at the top of Group F. The performance tonight was not good - despite the final scoreline - but England end up running out comfortable victors.

Right, that is all we have time for this evening! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's match as England end up comfortable winners against Malta, despite a largely frustrating display for the most part. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too. From me, though, it is goodbye for now!