England will look to take another step towards the 2018 World Cup in Russia when they welcome minnows Lithuania to Wembley on Sunday.

Having begun his permanent reign with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Germany on Wednesday, Gareth Southgate will oversee his first competitive match since being named as Sam Allardyce's successor when the Eastern Europeans make the trip to London.

England

There were plenty of positives for England to take from their trip to Dortmund in midweek, with a young and inexperienced side outplaying the world champions for the vast majority of the match at Signal Iduna Park.

Of course, it was far from being a full-strength Germany side and no-one would be in any doubt that the hosts would have put in a wholly different performance had it been a competitive fixture, but Southgate will have left the game with an increased level of optimism regarding his team's future.

While the performance itself was impressive, though, ultimately the result was disappointing, with one final swing of Lukas Podolski's boot proving to be enough for him to write the headlines on his international farewell as Germany once again got the job done.

In the build-up to that match Southgate had earmarked the Germans as the type of example his side should be following, but there is still a lot for his young guns to learn if they are to finally bring an end to their repeated failures when it matters most.

Right now the focus must be on reaching the World Cup in the first place, but it has been so far so good on that front, with England sitting two points clear at the top of Group F having won three and drawn one of their four qualifiers.

The Three Lions are one of only two teams yet to concede a goal in qualifying, although that defensive solidity does seem to be coming as the expense of their threat at the other end of the field - England are the lowest-scoring team currently occupying one of the top two places in any of the groups.

Sunday's hosts will be confident of improving that tally when they welcome the minnows of Lithuania to Wembley, though, and five of their six goals in qualifying so far have come in front of their own fans.

England have also only lost one of their last 13 outings at Wembley, and the only other match that they failed to win in that streak was the 2-2 draw with Spain at the end of last year - a game they led 2-0 until the 89th minute.

The concern for Southgate will be that his side's last two opponents have not had to be anywhere near their best to pick up results, although in truth that should be less of a problem against Lithuania than the likes of Spain and Germany.

You have to go back to November 2007 for the last time England lost a competitive match at Wembley - a defeat to Croatia which cost Steve McClaren's side a place at Euro 2008 - and when it comes to World Cup qualifiers England are unbeaten in 20 stretching back to October 2000.

Home and away England are unbeaten in their last 33 qualification matches, spanning both the World Cup and European Championships, since a 1-0 loss to Ukraine in October 2009.

Recent form: WWDW
Recent form (all competitions): WWDWDL

Lithuania

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Sitting 107th in the FIFA world rankings, there will be very few people who give Lithuania a chance of coming away from Wembley with a positive result on Sunday.

Below the likes of Malawi, Mozambique and Mauritania, Lithuania go into the game having won just one of their last seven outings and off the back of a convincing 3-0 loss at the hands of Czech Republic on Wednesday.

Edgaras Jankauskas's side were also swept aside by Slovakia in their last qualifying match, going down 4-0 to make it seven goals conceded and none scored in their past two outings.

However, Lithuania do still sit above Scotland in Group F ahead of Sunday's fixtures having lost only one of their four qualifiers so far, drawing with both Gordon Strachan's side and Slovenia.

Considering England could also only manage a draw with the unbeaten Slovenia, the match may not be quite as one-sided as the rankings suggest, although it would still be a major shock if Lithuania were to avoid a third consecutive defeat.

Sunday's visitors are without an away win since beating San Marino in September 2014, losing 10 of their 14 matches on the road since then and scoring just three goals in the process.

When it comes to competitive fixtures Lithuania have lost four and drawn two of their last six away games, including a 4-0 defeat at Wembley almost exactly two years ago.

If they are to spring a surprise then captain Fiodor Cernych is likely to be heavily involved, with the 25-year-old having netted in three of Lithuania's four qualifiers so far, all of which have been the opening goal.

Cernych is the highest-scoring player in the current squad with eight international goals to his name, but overall it is a relatively inexperienced selection of players with 44-time international Tadas Kijanskas the most-capped member of the squad.

Recent form: DDWL
Recent form (all competitions): DDDWLL

Team News

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Manchester City loanee Joe Hart is expected to get the armband on his 70th cap for England with Gary Cahill, who led the team out against Germany on Wednesday, suspended for this match.

Southgate will most likely stick with the 3-4-3 formation that featured in Dortmund, although with Cahill out and Chris Smalling injured, there will need to be personnel changes at the back.

John Stones will come into the side, while there could also be a debut for the uncapped Ben Gibson alongside Michael Keane, who only made his own debut on Wednesday.

The likes of Raheem Sterling, Nathaniel Clyne and Luke Shaw will also be hopeful of a recall to the starting XI, although Southgate is not expected to make wholesale changes to his team and 34-year-old striker Jermain Defoe is one of those who may have to settle for a place on the bench once again.

Jake Livermore could keep his place in the middle of the park due to a lack of alternative options, although if Southgate decides to name a more attacking lineup he could drop Dele Alli back alongside Eric Dier to make room for Sterling.

England possible starting lineup:
Hart; Keane, Stones, Gibson; Clyne, Alli, Dier, Bertrand; Lallana, Sterling, Vardy

Lithuania possible starting lineup:
Setkus; Vaitkunas, Slavickas, Luksa, A Klimavicius; Paulius, L Klimavicius, Slivka, Matulevicius; Kuklys, Cernych

Head To Head

This is the second consecutive qualifying group in which these two sides have been drawn together, having also faced off twice in 2015.

England cruised to victory on both occasions, winning 4-0 at Wembley and 3-0 away, with all seven of those goals scored by different players.

We say: England 3-0 Lithuania

The main question regarding this match looks like being how many goals England will win by. Anything other than a comfortable home victory would be a major shock, but England haven't exactly been free-scoring under Southgate so a proper rout seems unlikely.

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