Tuesday 8 October
Connor Gallagher has been promoted to the U21 side. Following man-of-the-match performances for Charlton Athletic he won a call to the U20 side but withdrawals from Aidy Boothroyd’s squad have opened up another opportunity.
Fikayo Tomori has committed to England as his nation after being called into the squad for this week’s games. Fik also qualifies for Nigeria and Canada for whom he played a few U20 matches.
Thursday 10 October
Ethan Ampadu finally got some minutes on the pitch as Wales fought for a 1-1 draw with Slovakia. Ethan played nearly an hour for Ryan Gigg’s side for his first football of a season when he is supposed to be playing on loan at RB Leipzig.
Friday 11 October
Czech Republic 2:1 England
Mason Mount made his full debut in this shockingly disjointed performance. Southgate talked all week about not underestimating the Czechs but he set out to play a 4-2-4, a formation not successful or popular since before 1966.
Mount started as a number 10 but the midfield was overrun and we were lucky not to lose by more. Mount dropped back into midfield in the second-half before being replaced by Ross Barkley.
Tammy Abraham got a few minutes at the end as we struggled to exert pressure but he barely touched the ball.
Olivier Giroud scored a penalty as France stumbled past Iceland in Reykjavik. The worrying news was that N’Golo Kanté pulled out of the match during the warm-up with a muscle problem.
Christian Pulisic captained the USA as the beat Cuba 7-0. Matt Miazga completed the game in defence.
Callum Hudson-Odoi, Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi all played as England U21 let slip a two-goal lead to draw away to Slovenia. They should feature on Tuesday in the U21 qualifier against Austria in Milton Keynes.
Saturday 12 October
Italy beat Greece 2-0 and Jorginho was on target with a first-half penalty. Italy have secured qualification for next summer’s Euros.
Kepa Arrizabalaga was so close to qualification with Spain but he gave away a penalty in the 92-minute and Norway scored for a 1-1.
Andreas Christensen and Demark were a little lucky to beat Switzerland at Parken but the clean-sheet and a goal on the break put the Danes level at the top of their group table.
Sunday 13 October
Chelsea 2:1 Arsenal
While the painfully drawn out business of international football drags across the Autumn days there was at least a little bit of Chelsea football and what a match too. Chelsea came from behind to beat champions and previously unbeaten Arsenal.
Beth England controlled and finished expertly in the second-half, equalising a goal that came from Arsenal’s one shot on target.
The winner came from Maria Thorisdottir who cracked the ball in from a lay-off from the other sub Ramona Bachmann.
Petr Cech made his ice hockey debut and saved two-penalties in a shootout to earn Guilford Phoenix a win over Swindon Wildcats 2.
Ethan Ampadu is having one of those seasons. Not on the pitch with Leipzig and now carted off with a head injury in a 1-1 with Slovakia for Wales. And that after he pulled off a goal-saving block in the first-half.
Daniel James earlier in the same game stayed down as if knocked out but was allowed to stay on the field and apparently past concussion protocols at the break.
