1) Southgate should have stripped England captaincy of bogus value
Captaincy is among the biggest red herrings in football: all players are supposed to set examples with their performances and leaders lead with or without an armband. And yet the England captaincy matters simply because a lot of people think it matters. Steven Gerrard was upset when it was taken off him by a caretaker manager, Stuart Pearce, and David Beckham was uplifted when it was given to him by a caretaker manager, Peter Taylor. The country’s latest caretaker manager, Gareth Southgate, should have de-fetishised the armband by announcing England do not need a captain other than for administrative purposes – to do the coin toss, basically – and, therefore, that the identity of the skipper for the matches against Malta, Slovenia and all opponents during his reign would be decided two seconds before each match by a dressing-room raffle. Paul Doyle
2) Scotland must make no mistake against Lithuania
Scotland’s match against Lithuania on Saturday is surely a must-win game, even if Gordon Strachan was at pains to deny it last week. The reality is that, if Scotland fail to win their home game against what is probably the second weakest team in Group F behind Malta, then they face an uphill task to reach Russia, even at this early stage in qualification. Scotland’s 5-1 win in Malta flattered Strachan’s side – but for a miscued Robert Snodgrass cross that luckily found the net they would have gone in at half-time 1-0 down, and it was only a contentious penalty that reduced Malta to 10 men and gave Strachan’s side the space to dominate. Lithuania will be a tougher task but, with Slovakia, England and Slovenia to come, Scotland need as many points on the board as possible, something that Strachan should know from the failed Euro 2016 qualification campaign. Michael Butler
3) Horgan must be given chance to be a hero
Dundalk’s success in the Europa League has led to an understandable heave for their star player Daryl Horgan to be included in the Republic of Ireland squad. There was a minor backlash when the winger was omitted from Martin O’Neill’s initial 33-man squad for the qualifiers against Georgia and Moldova and that has been exacerbated by a bleak injury list. Daryl Murphy, Aiden McGeady, Kevin Doyle, Stephen Quinn, Keiren Westwood and Anthony Pilkington were ruled out at the start of the week, while Harry Arter cried off too. O’Neill has said the reason for Horgan’s omission, and perhaps another one or two of his club-mates, is due to scheduling – League of Ireland players have only 40-week contracts so the season must finish at the end of this month and Dundalk will have played 10 games in four weeks – but it is a shame one of the country’s most exciting prospects will play no part this week. In November, though, there will be no excuse. Alan Smith
4) Time for Robson-Kanu to start again?
Hal Robson-Kanu has not started a league match this season and was benched for Wales’s opening qualifier, the 4-0 home win over Moldova, which Sam Vokes started instead. Vokes scored and performed well, making a strong case to retain the position for Thursday’s trip to Austria. But that will be a very different match, one in which Wales are going to have to demonstrate their defensive excellence and counter-attacking sharpness. Chris Coleman may decide Robson-Kanu’s greater mobility, and his capacity to create space for team-mates such as Gareth Bale and the in-form Joe Allen, mean it is time to give the West Bromwich Albion player his first start of the season. Aaron Ramsey’s absence is a blow, of course, but Andy King is a decent deputy and Wales have the ability to get a key win in what is likely to be a tight group. PD
5) Deschamps may turn to Benzema sooner rather than later
For how long can Didier Deschamps afford to leave Karim Benzema out? France’s array of forwards is frightening, yet last month’s 0-0 draw against Belarus was a poor start to their first qualifying campaign in three years. With Mathieu Valbuena out of the squad, Deschamps has admitted the door is not closed on Real Madrid’s No9 but that he is “making sporting choices”. Benzema’s two goals this season may not warrant a recall on their own but his quality or experience – he has more than twice as many caps as any other forward in the squad – is not in doubt, while others, such as Kingsley Coman, Anthony Martial and Kévin Gameiro, have not exactly been in sparkling form for their club. Benzema has said he is ready to return and, should France draw another blank against Bulgaria on Friday or Holland on Monday, he may well find himself back in the fold for the game against Sweden next month. MB
6) Kosovo face two true tests of their calibre
Kosovo, after a 1-1 draw in their competitive debut against Finland, face more testing opponents on Thursday night by welcoming Croatia to their home ground – in Shkodra, Albania, because they do not yet have a stadium that is up to scratch – before playing Ukraine away on Sunday in a fixture with obvious political undertones. Albert Bunjaki, the Kosovo head coach, has admitted they are underdogs but believes his fearless team can cause a surprise in one of the most testing groups in the Uefa section. This time they at least have a squad cleared to play following the farcical delay in Finland but their performances in the next two games will give a better idea of what they are capable of. On paper they look a level above some of the recently admitted fodder (sorry, Gibraltar) but, as Bunjaki has publicly targeted, are they really capable of qualifying for the 2020 European Championship? AS
7) Africa’s fearsome group stages kick-off
The group stages of the African qualifying process for the World Cup begin this week and include the most high-calibre small pool in the world, as Group B is made up of Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria and Zambia, countries who between them have been continental champions nine times. Only the group winners will go to the World Cup so there is no room for error. Algeria start as favourites because they are technically excellent and brim with speed and creativity but they carry some doubts into the campaign. Two key players, Yacine Brahimi and Sofiane Feghouli, are in poor form with their clubs, and the national manager, Milovan Rajevac, is in the early days of his reign, having been appointed only in June after Christian Gourcuff’s resignation. The visitors on Sunday, Cameroon, are also beset by uncertainty (as ever these days), with the captain, Stéphane Mbia, remaining out in the cold after a dressing-room schism. But even with Clinton Njie out injured, the Indomitable Lions have the attacking potency to punish any Algerian slip-ups. Nigeria will attempt to start atoning for their failure to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations by beating Zambia on Friday, a match in which they hope Mikel Jon Obi will make light of his lack of action for Chelsea. PD
8) Switzerland aim to keep pressure on European champions
Portugal are certain of victory on Friday, when they host Andorra, but will be concerned about the strong possibility of Switzerland following up last month’s victory over them by winning away in Hungary. The Hungarians’ pre-Euro 2016 buoyancy was pricked by emphatic elimination from the tournament by Belgium and an embarrassing 0-0 with Faroe Islands at the start of their latest campaign. Switzerland’s assignment is complicated by the suspension of Granit Xhaka, whose passing tends to knit the team together but whose tendency to unravel mentally resurfaced as he was sent off in the win over the European champions. Johan Djourou delivered what was perhaps his best international performance in that game but is injured for the trip to Budapest. Despite those absences Switzerland should win and Admir Mehmedi could confirm he has become a striker on whom his country can count for regular goals. PD
9 ) Cagey fighting expected between Italy and Spain
There can be little doubt over the game of the week – but it could end up being quite cagey. Only 103 days have passed since one of the most memorable moments of Euro 2016, when Italy truly ended Spain’s golden era in the last 16 even if the signs were there long before. Julen Lopetegui may have replaced Vicente del Bosque but the word revenge must be playing on the minds of some Spanish players as they head to Turin on Thursday night. The Azzurri have changed managers, too, with Giampiero Ventura replacing Antonio Conte. Both should be given time before being fully judged but a knee-jerk reaction would be sadly inevitable with a defeat, pointing to a tight game with an emphasis on playing it safe. AS
10) Chile in a pickle
Things are hotting up for Chile. The Copa America holders are in a pickle after two surprisingly bad results last month, as a defeat in Paraguay and a 0-0 home draw with Bolivia left them eighth in the South American qualifying league. Their task on Thursday is to thrive at high altitude and beat Ecuador, who are two points and two places above them. Ecuador are also on a mission of atonement, having endured an even worse September than Chile, a 3-0 home spanking by Brazil being followed by defeat in Peru. Chile tend not to enjoy their trips to the high altitude of Quito, where their last four visits have ended in defeat. A similar result on Thursday would leave them with a mountain to climb to reach the World Cup. PD
