176th in the world

Gareth Southgate starts the first of his initial four-game reign as England manager with the visit of Malta on Saturday. Jason Dickinson Jersey . England kicked off their World Cup Group F qualifying campaign with a late 1-0 win over Slovakia in Trnava, which proved to be Sam Allardyces first and last match as England boss, following an undercover report by The Telegraph.England have won their last 13 qualifying matches for tournaments and are unbeaten in their last 30 qualifiers while Malta, who are ranked 176th in the world, have lost their last five World Cup qualifiers, shipping 19 goals. SSNHQs Nick Collins reports from England training as Gareth Southgate deals with defensive injuries ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Malta Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. Speaking about his new role, Southgate said: I think the role is an honour. Its important we show leadership, step up and put things in place to give the team the best chance of a winning.Im a proud and patriotic Englishman. In my view, its a wonderful job to have for any period of time.Its huge for my family and everybody thats helped me in my career from a young player. The workings of the last week have been almost identical to running the under-21s.In such a short period of time to turn around the opposition planning, our own arrangements in such a short space of time. If I was comparing to when I took over at Middlesbrough, this has been far far calmer. Southgate is all smiles during an England training session Team newsAdam Lallana has been ruled out for up to two weeks with a groin strain and Raheem Sterling is out with a strained a calf muscle.Andros Townsend was called up to replace the Manchester City winger while Glen Johnson was in line to make his first appearance for England since 2014 but was forced to withdraw with injury.Phil Jagielka is also missing after picking up a thigh strain in training. Manchester Uniteds Jesse Lingard feels his captain Wayne Rooney still has plenty to offer England Despite missing the last three games for Manchester United, Southgate says Wayne Rooney will remain as captain but didnt confirm what position hell be played in. Marcus Rashford, Michael Keane and Jesse Lingard all could feature in Southgates starting eleven. StatsEngland have won all three previous international encounters against Malta, scoring eight and conceding one. Martin Keown scored in Englands 2-1 win in Malta in 2000 Rooney has scored 14 and assisted two in his last 15 WC/Euro qualifying appearances.Malta have won only one of their last 21 matches (D4 L16) and none of the last 11.England have won 10 of their last 11 matches at Wembley (L1), scoring 25 and conceding three goals in the process.England have fired in a total of 67 shots (inc. blocks) in their last three internationals, netting only twice in the process (3% shot conversion rate).Jamie Vardy has scored four international goals in 2016, twice as many as any other England player. David Beckham reflects on his stunning free-kick against Greece fifteen years ago today that sent England into the World Cup Charlies prediction Well this is a nice game for Gareth Southgate to start with, especially after my team softened [Malta] up!The big question is what he does and how many changes he makes. Will he play Rooney? Or will he want to play Dele Alli behind Daniel Sturridge or Vardy?If Im having a bet on this game Id be looking at England to score at least five goals and Theo Walcott definitely to get in on the act.Charlie predicts: 6-0 and Walcott to score first (28/1 with Sky Bet)Watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the Japan Grand Prix on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Esa Lindell Jersey . Villar connected off Joe Saunders (11-14), sending a drive well over the left-field fence for his first career homer. The Astros scored six times in the first three innings to chase Saunders. John Klingberg Jersey . MLB executive Joe Torre ruled on Tuesday nights game at Wrigley Field that was called after 4 1-2 innings. The Cubs were declared the winners by a 2-0 score. Now, it is instead a suspended game that will resume at 4:05 p. http://www.thedallasstarshockey.com/jon-casey-hockey-jersey/ . -- The Toronto Maple Leafs are tightening the race for second place in the Atlantic Division.EVANSTON, Ill. -- Roy Devyn Marble scored 14 points and No. 10 Iowa never trailed, beating Northwestern 76-50 on Saturday. Gabriel Olaseni had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Mike Gesell added 11 points for the Hawkeyes (16-4, 5-2 Big Ten), who avoided losing consecutive games for the first time this season after falling 75-67 at No. 21 Michigan on Wednesday. They shot 51.9 per cent from the field (28 of 54) and won their fourth in five games. Iowa, which outrebounded Northwestern 44-20, had nine players score. Marble, Iowas leading scorer, didnt make his first field goal until 3:08 into the second half. That was part of a 7-0 run that gave the Hawkeyes a 41-30 lead, their first double-digit advantage. Northwestern never got closer than seven points during a second half Iowa dominated 46-26. Drew Crawford had 20 points for Northwestern (10-11, 3-5), which had won three of four. Saturday was a rematch of the teams Jan. 9 game in Iowa City which the Hawkeyes won 93-67 after shooting 64.3 per cent during the second half. Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was suspended for that game after getting ejected during the Hawkeyes previous game at Wisconsin. On Saturday, McCaffery was coaching and along with Northwesterns Chris Collins wore sneakers as part of the annual Coaches vs. Ben Bishop Stars Jersey. Cancer weekend. That first game was a turning point for Northwestern. Including the teams first matchup, the Wildcats started conference play 0-3 and were allowing an average of 81 points per game. In the next four games -- a stretch that included a win over then-No. 23 Illinois, a victory at Indiana and a double-overtime win over Purdue -- the Wildcats only gave up 51 points per game. Northwestern got Dave Sobolewski back after he missed four games (concussion), and had Crawford break the school record by playing in his 131st game and starting his 130th. He topped the marks set by John Shurna and Michael Thompson, respectively. The Wildcats shot 36.4 per cent from the field (20 of 55). Unlike the first meeting, when the Hawkeyes led 41-26 at halftime, Iowa struggled to separate from Northwestern during the first half despite making 50 per cent of its shots compared to the Wildcats 31. Iowa was in front 30-24 at halftime but at one point went more than 6 minutes between baskets. ' ' '