Trent Alexander-Arnold wins the battle… but can’t find the net.

He tries to bend the ball into the top corner from the free-kick but it curls a little too wide for his liking.

Not a bad effort, though.

Oooh, now this could hurt Finland.

Glen Kamara wipes out Angel Gomes on the edge of the box and a free-kick is given.

There are four or five players lurking over this free-kick… it’s scoreable.

Oooft, Trent Alexander-Arnold comes very close to opening the scoring.

Bukayo Saka is sent through and works his way into the area on the left before cutting the ball back to Rico Lewis.

Lewis then finds Alexander-Arnold who only has one thing on his mind.

He has a crack from the edge of the box and the ball flashes narrowly wide of the post.

For a split second, I thought it was in.

There is an ‘oooo’ from the crowd as the ball rolls parallel to the Finland goalline from a Harry Kane cross.

But the whistle is blown as the ball had gone out before Kane got his boot to it.

Not sure how the linesman managed to see that, in truth.

While the action on the pitch isn’t the most exhilarating, it seems the fans are enjoying themselves anyway.

There are a bunch of ‘whey’s’ from the crowd, I wonder what’s going on in the stands.

They then make more noise as Trent Alexander-Arnold tries to slide through Harry Kane, but the ball is intercepted.

Craig Hope, Mail Sport, at Wembley Stadium:

It’s interesting to note the positioning of Rico Lewis here – left back out of possession, but inside right in possession. He’s been bright and has seen plenty of the ball, too.

This game has been rather odd in my book.

England have shown flashes of quality and some lovely link-up play, but overall it’s been a pretty slow match, so far.

Bukayo Saka has a couple of cracks as I say that, but both are well wide. Not his best efforts.

Matti Peltola is a very lucky boy…

The Finnish defender is stuck in his own box and doesn’t know what to do with the ball as Angel Gomes closes him down.

He decides to then hit the deck under the slightest touch from Gomes and the referee buys it.

Very harsh, Gomes was in.

Ian Ladyman, Mail Sport Football Editor, at Wembley Stadium:

Lee Carsley doesn’t like the word ‘freedom’ but his players are spelling it out for him anyway. Anthony Gordon and Trent Alexander-Arnold are particularly expressive so far and it’s good to watch.

*Yes I know it’s only Finland and I know England haven’t scored yet

Oh dear, Topi Keskinen…

The man who dons a tattoo of Wayne Rooney (weird I know) has just missed a big chance for Finland.

He has Teemu Pukki free to his left but goes alone and smashes the ball well wide.

If only he had Rooney’s ability.

VAR check the goal for an age for some reason.

Kane was miles off, I’m not sure why they had to look at it for so long.

Very odd, just get on with the game lads.

Oh no…

Harry Kane thinks he has marked his 100th cap with a goal as he nods into the back of the net.

But he strays offside…

That’s unlike him, he didn’t hold his line whatsoever as the cross comes in.

I’m sure he will get more chances, though.

That’s a brilliant move from England!

Angel Gomes shows what he is about and finds space just outside the box before the ball is worked to Harry Kane.

You know exactly what is coming next and Kane fires the ball toward goal but Lukas Hradecky.

Finland then break, but there is a foul on Ezri Konsa that stops them in their tracks.

Everything is going through Anthony Gordon on the left.

The winger is loving life and he looks to beat his man again before fizzing in a low cross.

He does the first bit well but his final ball is intercepted and put behind for a corner.

Nothing comes from the resulting set-piece. In fact, it’s pretty woeful.

Craig Hope, Mail Sport, at Wembley Stadium:

Sixteen minutes in and….. we’ve had our first paper aeroplane land on the pitch. What happened to Cars-ball??

Anthony Gordon really has been good and he is nearly involved again.

He comes steaming in at the back post as Declan Rice looks to slide the ball across the area.

But the delivery is poor and collected by Lukas Hradecky.

Sami Mokbel, Mail Sport, at Wembley Stadium:

Very good start to the game from Anthony Gordon here. Terrorising his right-back. Nice balance and genuine end product. Will be interesting to see how he fits into Carsley’s plans when Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham are back available.

England are having all the ball.

It’s only been 12 minutes and they have had 88% possession. Finland seem content to sit back.

Oh wait, I have done it again.

As I am typing, Finland break free and Teemu Pukki sees an effort diverted wide.

I wish they would stop making me look silly.

I think Harry Kane may have heard you, Craig.

However, his efforts to produce don’t go very well and he skews one way over the bar at the back post.

He wins a corner, though. It must have taken a huge deflection on the way through.

It makes the strike look less poor, I guess.

Craig Hope, Mail Sport, at Wembley Stadium:

All of the pre-match ceremony has been around Harry Kane – and rightly so – but he does need to produce on the pitch now, after another below-par performance in Dublin.

At what stage do we start asking serious questions about his place in the starting XI? I can’t remember his last outstanding game for England.

I normally jinx proceedings, but that was a new level even for me.

I couldn’t even finish the post before England made me eat my words.

To be fair to myself, the first three minutes were played at a very slow pace and I just wanted to keep you in the loop.

That’s my job, and I love it.

It’s fair to say it’s been a fairly slow start.

Wait a minute, just as I type that suddenly England have come alive…

Out of nowhere, Anthony Gordon drives down the left, confuses the Finland full-back, and sends in a teasing cross.

But Bukayo Saka cannot turn it home.

Ian Ladyman, Mail Sport Football Editor, at Wembley Stadium:

Whatever official attendance is given later on, the fact is that Wembley is nowhere near full. The top tier is about half full and there are spaces on the lower section too.

Now that the national stadium has been fully paid off, there really is no excuse for not taking England games round the country. The best atmosphere for an England game recently was at St James’ Park when Gareth Southgate’s team played a pre-Euro 2024 friendly against Bosnia.

The players have now had their final chats and are ready to go.

It’s still lashing it down at the National Stadium, the ball should zip across this surface.

Well, it certainly does as the whistle is blown.

The time has come to pay tribute to Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Wembley rises to remember England’s former manager who passed away aged 67 last month.

His first competitive match in charge was against tonight’s opponents, a fitting fixture to pay tribute to the great man.

I can’t say I am surprised.

For the second match running, Le Carsley does not sing ‘God Save the King’ in the dugout.

It’s something England fans are going to have to get used to for the time being. And maybe longer if he gets the permanent job.

The teams are out in the pouring rain with Harry Kane leading them out.

The England captain has two of his daughters with him while his wife, Katie, and son, follow the players onto the pitch.

He then leaves his teammates to collect his golden cap from fellow centurion Frank Lampard.

Then there is a lovely touch from Finland as captain Lukas Hradecky hands Kane a bunch of flowers.

Now it’s time for the national anthems…

The Wembley weather is pretty grim.

Fans are avoiding their seats at the moment and staying in the concourse as the rain lashes down.

It’s nights like these I am glad to be inside…

Jack Grealish really is back in the England picture, isn’t he?

The winger may not have been involved at Euro 2024, but it seems Lee Carsley has taken a liking to him.

Grealish has now been named in the starting XI in consecutive England games for the first time since June 2021.

Consistency breeds excellence.

Ian Ladyman, Mail Sport Football Editor, at Wembley Stadium:

I am keen to see how players such Angel Gomes get on tonight but it will be hard to make a definitive judgement given the nature of the opposition.

Finland are ranked 63rd in the world and the last team of note they beat was Denmark back in Euro 2020. This is the problem facing England in Nations League Group B2, sadly. The opposition will not necessarily provide much of a test.

Lee Carsley, England interim head coach, speaking to ITV1:

It’s important we look forward to playing at home. Hopefully we can give the fans something good to see.

Hopefully Angel Gomes will control the game and dictate the play. It’s important we don’t put too much pressure on him. I have a lot of confidence in him. I have played Rico Lewis as left-back before and I have a lot of confidence. We’ve got to be creative with the way that we play.

Jack Grealish and Anthony Gordon were excellent the other night. They get you up the pitch. It’s a great moment. It’s a moment I’m really looking forward to and hopefully it will be a memorable one.

I think we know the answer to this already, don’t we?

There was major backlash after Lee Carsley didn’t sing ‘God Save the King’ prior to England’s match against Ireland.

Carsley was born and raised in England but played for the Ireland national team during his career.

So, now that the Three Lions aren’t playing his old national side, will he sing the national anthem?

Keep your eyes peeled…

Someone who will also feel believed in is Angel Gomes.

The midfielder has been given the nod by Lee Carsley and it means we have a crazy statistic for you.

Gomes plays for Lille and as you can see, England don’t usually have players who play for French clubs.

A first for a long, long time.

Ashley Cole, England coach, speaking about Sven-Goran Eriksson on ITV1:

He gave me an opportunity in the team, he gave me belief. He made sure you were ok. We were going there (Germany) as underdogs. Sven made that clear. To go there and produce the performance we did was massive.

The team was that good, and exciting. There was always the belief that Sven would get the best out of the team. He gave us the framework.

What we saw of the character was a lovely man. I felt Sven could have got more out of us (in the 2006 World Cup). I want to be left with a beautiful memory of him.

While we remember Sven-Goran Eriksson, we have to turn to one specific match from his England reign.

He gave England fans some of their greatest memories in the 21st century, but there is one in particular that supporters hold above the rest.

You guessed it, that famous night in Munich when he guided England to a mammoth 5-1 win over Germany in 2001.

I was personally too young to remember, but I know many members of my family who adore Eriksson for that match alone.

A magical night.

Oliver Holt, Mail Sport Chief Sports Reporter:

Sven-Goran Eriksson did not waste any time on anger, resentment or regret. He lived his life with uncommon grace. When he was lampooned by critics, he never responded in kind. The worst that he did was turn the other way.

He never criticised his players in public and they loved him for that, too. His last act as England manager, in fact, was to plead with the media not to ‘kill’ Wayne Rooney after he had been sent off during England’s quarter-final elimination at the hands of Portugal during the 2006 World Cup.

And many loved him for his pursuit of hedonism. Football, it sometimes seemed, was a vehicle for him to chase prizes in his personal life that might otherwise have been beyond his reach.

Sven-Goran Eriksson will always be fondly remembered in this country.

He was a brilliant football manager who affected so many people’s lives with how he led England during the early 2000s.

The former Three Lions boss sadly passed away aged 76 on 26 August after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Tonight, the FA will celebrate Eriksson’s life with a pre-match tribute.

A lovely picture of Eriksson also adorns the cover of the match programme.

Ian Ladyman, Mail Sport Football Editor, at Wembley Stadium:

Ahead of Lee Carsley’s home debut as England manager, I was interested to hear him say he doesn’t want his players to address him formally.

‘Lee’ or ‘Cars’ are his preferred terms and I find that a little odd. He may only be the stand-in manager, but he’s still the manager…

I wonder how this man is feeling?

My presumption would be nervous. I mean, I would be bricking it, but then again, I’m not a professional footballer.

Angel Gomes only made his debut for the senior England men’s team on Saturday against Ireland, and he obviously impressed Lee Carsley.

We know Gomes has a good relationship with the interim head coach from his Under 21 days, and tonight he has been handed his full debut.

Can he shine next to Declan Rice in the middle?

I think you will recognise a few of these names.

Starting with Teemu Pukki. The former Norwich man is Finland’s all-time record goalscorer and he starts up top for them tonight.

Former Rangers and Leeds midfielder Glen Kamara is also included, starting in the middle of the park.

A tidy team, that.

Of course, our predicted XI was spot on.

Rico Lewis does indeed make his second senior England start this evening and he will be joined by his clubmate John Stones.

It’s a special day for Angel Gomes too, he makes his first-ever start for the Three Lions.

And of course, it will be cap number 100 for Mr. Harry Kane!

I reckon the players have seen the drink prices going by their faces.

They look rather moody, don’t they?

Well, we are about to let you know which 11 of them will be playing this evening.

Will are predicted XI be correct?

Well, maybe this will get them down/

If those fans fancy a drink this evening, they are in for a shock…

Just four cans of beer at the National Stadium will cost supporters a staggering £27.50, according to sportscasting.com/uk.

At these prices, this means Wembley are charging £21 more for four tins than Tesco – who are advertising the same at just £6.50 on their website.

I mean, that’s not great, is it?

It’s not only beer, a glass of Wembley wine isn’t much better at £10, but vino drinkers can bring this cost down to £15 if they buy two glasses.

All the prices of drinks are below:

• Pint Of Beer (Stella) £7.85
• Pint Of Cider (Magners) £7.75
• 4 Cans Of Stella £27.50
• 4 Pints Of Beer (Bud) £28.50
• 1 Glass Of Wine £10.00
• 2 Glasses Of Wine £15.00
• Absolut Vodka & Sprite £8.00
• Coke (500ml) £5.00
• Sprite (500ml) £4.80
• Fanta (500ml) £4.80
• Coke Zero (650ml) £4.95
• Bottle of Water (small) £3.20
• 4 Bottles of Water (small) £10.00

The fans are flooding in at Wembley.

Just look at the smiles on some of the faces, the Three Lions faithful are delighted to be in north London.

They are in for a treat tonight, even if the weather is trying to ruin their fun.

Nothing can get them down…

Lee Carsley, England interim head coach, speaking on Monday:

We have to be realistic that the players that didn’t have a lot of time off in the summer, came back having maybe not played as many minutes, to expect them just to go into, especially, a game in Dublin at the tempo that we thought it would be and the physicality. I didn’t want to put them in a position where if they didn’t do well, you could almost see what they didn’t do well.

It just gave us a chance to do a bit more work with them during the week and then put them in a position… and there’s maybe four or five that needed that extra work and that extra day’s training which will hopefully help them.

Of course, Mail Sport’s Sami Mokbel has delivered the goods again.

England’s line-up is always a huge talking point before matches… and Sami always gets the scoop on them leading up to kick-off.

Well, we have put together the most probable England line-up tonight based on information from within the England camp.

It seems like a certain Angel Gomes may get his full England debut tonight after a cameo off the bench against Ireland.

Meanwhile, Jack Grealish is set to keep his place following his goalscoring display in Dublin.

England predicted XI: (4231): Pickford; Trent; Stones, Konsa, Lewis; Gomes, Rice; Saka, Grealish, Gordon; Kane

Sami Mokbel, Mail Sport, at Wembley Stadium:

Rico Lewis is in line to start for England tonight. The 19-year-old full-back is hopeful of getting the nod to make only his second senior appearance, coming in for Levi Colwill – who started Saturday’s 2-0 win over Republic of Ireland.

Lee Carsley is pondering two other changes to his defence; with centre-backs John Stones and Ezri Konsa in line to start the game ahead of Marc Guehi and Harry Maguire, who played in Dublin.

Lee Carsley may only be one game into his interim spell in charge but so far, so good, right?

His first match in charge proved successful on Saturday evening as the Three Lions ran out 2-0 winners in Ireland.

I must say, the football on display was lovely at times.

Now Carsley will take charge of the senior side at Wembley Stadium for the very first time.

Can he make it two wins from two?

From scoring 79 seconds into his debut to silencing the Three Lions’ old foes Germany at Euro 2020. Harry Kane has produced some big moments in an England shirt.

I would try and go through them all, but I think this post would be 1000 words long if I tried to.

So, I’ll leave it down to all of you to do the hard work for me.

What has been your favourite Kane moment in an England shirt?

Also, you’ll notice that his celebrations never change…

A century of international appearances does not come around often, does it?

So, when it does, it has to be celebrated.

Well, England are commemorating Harry Kane’s landmark appearance by presenting the England captain with a golden cap before the match

It will start the evening off in the best possible way.

1. Peter Shilton – 125 caps
2. Wayne Rooney – 120 caps
3. David Beckham – 115 caps
4. Steven Gerrard – 114 caps
5. Bobby Moore – 108 caps
6. Ashley Cole – 107 caps
7. Sir Bobby Charlton – 106 caps
8. Frank Lampard – 106 caps
9. Billy Wright – 105 caps

Harry Kane, England captain, speaking on Monday:

These 100 caps have come around so quickly, especially the last few years playing three major tournaments in such a short space of time. The goals were similar, I felt I was on 30 goals and then, bam… I went to 50 and 60. It is definitely there and definitely possible [to reach 100 goals]. I feel like I am in a good place and these are good targets to try to reach.

Some people may see them as unrealistic but I would rather go for something unrealistic and not quite make it rather than be comfortable just saying I will be happy with 70 or 80 goals. [Staying at the top level] is probably the hardest part. You see a lot of players who have a few good seasons but then drop off and I think the hardest thing to do is to maintain it and consistently play at the highest level.

That’s why I have so much respect for Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and these players. To be able to do it for 15 or 20 years is some mindset and some achievement. For now, 100 caps tomorrow, that’s part of the reason I am really proud. At 31, I am in a good place both mentally and physically and some of the players ahead of me like Ronaldo have helped prove to me I can be at this level for a long time.

99 and counting…

If this was cricket and a batter needed just one run to hit a century, it would be what we call ‘twitchy-bum time’.

Luckily for Harry Kane, this is football.

The England captain will reach a century of England caps when he leads out the Three Lions. Some achievement, right?

Only nine players have achieved that feat for the men’s side with Peter Shilton sitting top of the pile with 125 appearances.

Wayne Rooney was the last one to hit the milestone just under a decade ago. He went on to appear 20 more times for England.

It’s fair to say, it’s Kane’s time to take the plaudits tonight.

Today is the day that Harry Kane joins an elite club.

The England captain will step onto the turf in an England jersey for the 100th time this evening as the Three Lions take on Finland.

What would usually be seen as a fairly run-of-the-mill match in the Nations League has not become a rather special occasion.

It is also Lee Carsley’s Wembley bow as interim boss, and I’m pretty sure he will want a winning start.

Going off those first four paragraphs, I think we are in for a rather action-packed evening, aren’t we?

So, I think it’s time we get this show on the road!