England are dominant possession and territory as you'd expect in the opening 10 minutes.

Image source, Opta

Image source, getty

That's better from Wayne Rooney!

The England captain displays that flash of strength and power that he had in spades as a youngster as he lets fly with a curling, dipping effort from the edge of the box, but Andrew Hogg palms it away.

No surprises as England are dominating early on with 80% possession. They have a chance to test Andrew Hogg in the Malta goal for the first time with a free-kick just outside the area, but Wayne Rooney's effort strikes the wall.

Breaking news away from international football, as Derby County announce they have mutually agreed to part company with Nigel Pearson.

Chris Waddle
Former England winger at Wembley for 5 live Sport

Already you can see Malta are playing very deep. They know England have a lot of pace and don't want to let them get in behind so they're sitting very deep.

Not a great moment for Wayne Rooney as he is caught in possession by Andrei Agius, who charges forward. The Malta man has little support with him, though, and eventually Gary Cahill is able to sweep up.

Wayne Rooney lines up alongside Jordan Henderson in midfield, with Theo Walcott and Jesse Lingard either side of Daniel Sturridge in attack. They've got some work to do to break down a packed Malta defence, who have five at the back.

And England get the game under way.

Impressive singing of the national anthem from the England players and Gareth Southgate. Strong start to the interim England manager's reign.

Doug in Leyland: Malta will sit deep so Sturridge over Vardy makes sense. That said I'd still have picked Rashford as his link up play under pressure is excellent.

Andrew Mitchell: No-one on bench has a legit claim to be starting ahead of Rooney in that role. Bigger question for me is Cahill over Smalling

Luke: Walcott has been the form Eng man this season. Lingard starts ahead of Rashford at Utd . Vardy just found wanting this season.

The two teams are out and Malta fans hold up 'Forza Malta' scarves as their national anthem is played out. All look to be really enjoying their day at Wembley so far.

Chris Waddle
Former England winger at Wembley for 5 live Sport

I thought it was ideal for Rashford today.

It is difficult when you are playing against 10 men in defence and we need players who can unlock doors.

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Expecting a big win today? Don't, if the last meeting is anything to go by. The last time England played Malta was in 2000, when Emile Heskey scored his first international goal in a 2-1 win.

Slightly bigger crowd watching on this afternoon compared to that day... 

Image source, EPA

Asked whether captain Wayne Rooney will play in the Eric Dier holding midfielder role, Gareth Southgate added: "If that is whats it is called now. We expect to have a lot of the ball and we hope Wayne and Jordan (Henderson) can control the game today.

"I want the players to express themselves. They are an exciting group and we need to free them up a bit. I expect them to play well with the way they have trained and I am looking forward to watching it."

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England caretaker manager Gareth Southgate speaking to ITV: "When representing your country as a player or manager the pride is incredibly high and now there is additional responsibility, that is an even greater honour.

"Jesse (Lingard) is in form and was brought up at Manchester United playing front of 70,000 people every week. With us (England Under-21s) he handled the European Championships better than any young player we had. He starts wide but scores goals, I'm excited to see how he plays."