BBC Radio 5 live

Pat Nevin told BBC Radio 5 live that a "lack of a world-class creative midfielder will hold England back" at the World Cup in Russia.

He joined Mark Chapman, Ian Wright and Rory Smith as they previewed tonight's fixture on the 5 live's Football Daily Podcast.

You can listen to that in full here.

It may only be a friendly but there is a huge game going ahead in Berlin tonight as Brazil face Germany for the first time since they were humiliated at their home World Cup four years ago.

Brazil coach Tite says his side are still haunted by "the ghost" of their 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat.

"This has a huge psychological meaning - no-one needs to fool themselves about that," Tite told Kicker.

"The 7-1 is like a ghost, people still talk about it. The more you talk about it, the less this ghost disappears."

Shivers.

James Horncastle
European football writer on BBC Radio 5 live

We thought it was all a bad dream Italy not going to the World Cup. Instead the problems go deeper and there is no quick fix to this.

Looking at the fact that they have gone out in back-to-back World Cups in the group stage, and then not qualifying this year; it is a trend that if you weren’t looking at the name, the history and tradition of the national team you would think "yeah, that’s where you would expect them to be".

People would say they have reached the final of the European Championship in 2012 and have done better than many expected at the Euros in France last year. That has very much papered over the cracks.

Now this is interesting. It could just be a few tests going ahead at Wembley but could this be offering a few hints on the starting line-up? Minus Chris Smalling of course.

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It's not gone that well the last two times England have faced Italy. A certain Andrea Pirlo (a genius of a player) caused some serious problems.

If you need reminding of his brilliance then just watch this video. That penalty... Well, it's just beautiful.

Scotland manager Alex McLeish says a positive result in Budapest is important but he will be satisfied if his side perform well in their friendly against Hungary tonight.

"We want to try to get a good result with a good performance," he said.

"Obviously that is encouraging and gives the players evidence that they're on the right track to go where we want to go.

"I want to get the players used to playing different formations and different styles."

There is a dedicated live text and radio page of that game here.

Image source, SNS

Gareth Southgate says there are still World Cup places to play for in tonight's game. One of those places will most definitely be in goal.

Jack Butland, Nick Pope, Jordan Pickford and Joe Hart have all been included in this squad but one of those will definitely not be getting on the plane to Russia as four becomes three.

Teams have to name a provisional 35-man squad by 14 May - with the final 23-man selection by 4 June - two days after England's next friendly against Nigeria.

But media reports suggest that Southgate plans to have named his final squad before that game.

Image source, Getty Images

With several candidates in the running, there might be a few surprised by Southgate's choice of England captain.

But which appointment has surprised you the most? Phil Jagielka in October 2015? Or Scott Parker in February 2012 perhaps?

Let me know which one was the most surprising and why using the hashtag #bbcfootball on Twitter or by texting in to 81111 (UK only).

Image source, Getty Images

There's a number of questions yet to be answered before the World Cup and who will be England's captain remains one of them.

Jordan Henderson was given the armband against the Netherlands and is likely to wear it again this evening.

Is he the leading candidate or will Harry Kane take up the duties on his return from injury?

This is what Gareth Southgate had to say about the Liverpool skipper: "We know about all the leaders in the group and Jordan is one of the few guys who is a captain at club level. He's comfortable in that role. He's comfortable in speaking up for the group.

"He has a mindset for the collective not just self and that is a hugely important attribute for a captain to have and I thought he worked the game out very well too.

"He was the one talking the others through on where they needed to press. He has got some tremendous human qualities and he's certainly a leader of men."

Image source, Getty Images

England's Under-21 side have just kicked off at Bramall Lane against Ukraine in their Euro 2019 qualifier.

The young Lions side sit top of their qualifying group, five points clear of joint-second placed Ukraine and looking to extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Manager Aidy Boothroyd has made wholesale changes. Ten in fact.

Only Leicester City winger Demarai Gray, who again captains the side, remains from their 2-1 friendly victory over Romania on Saturday.

Excitingly there's also a first start for Fulham's 17-year-old sensation Ryan Sessegnon.

England U21 XI: Gunn, Kenny, Fry, Worrall, Chilwell, Gray, Davies. Onomah, Sessegnon, Maddison, Calvert-Lewin

Image source, Reuters

There's 29 international friendlies in total on today and a few have already got under way. We'll be focusing on the big ones though.

England U21 v Ukraine U21 (18:00 BST)

Hungary v Scotland (19:00 BST)

Germany v Brazil (19:45 BST)

England v Italy (20:00 BST)

Spain v Argentina (20:30 BST)

You can follow all of these games via the website with our live text commentary as well as Radio 5 live coverage from Wembley.

We'll bring you any other exciting news from the other internationals too.

Tonight's friendly international brings together two old rivals...

Image source, Reuters

And there are still places up for grabs in England's World Cup squad to play for...

Image source, Reuters

But will Gareth Southgate be content at full-time?

Image source, Getty Images

We'll bring you all the action from Wembley.