Gareth Southgate plays down major England concern ahead of North Macedonia

England play out their final Euro 2024 qualifier on Monday evening, away to North Macedonia.

England are clear favourites for the meeting and can be backed at 11/2 with bet365 to pick up a 3-0 win. 85

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North Macedonia vs England

November 20, 2023

7:45 pm GMT

Gareth Southgate plays down England concern

England qualified for Euro 2024 last month and secured top spot in their group with a win over Malta this past Friday.

However, despite the Three Lions clearly being a much better side than their most recent opponents, they only won 2-0 on Friday and looked far from their best.

This has sparked fears that England are sleepwalking towards Euro 2024 next summer and will not be at their best during the tournament as a result.

However, Gareth Southgate says he has no concerns about his England players coasting into Euro 2024 following Friday’s drab performance against Malta:

“No, it’s not a worry because sometimes when players have so many matches they almost self-regulate,” the England manager said.

“You know there’s a certain level you need to hit to beat Italy here and you know you don’t have to hit that level to win today’s game. And although you’d think everybody would be at the same level all the time, that’s not the reality of football.

“There are nights where subconsciously you just do enough to win and that’s a little bit where we were tonight.  We wouldn’t be able to play [like that against] the teams we’ve got in March [Brazil and Belgium in friendlies], we wouldn’t get away with it. The players would have a different level of motivation.