Gareth Southgate’s England side still top their qualifying group but only after a goalless draw.
England have ended the international break still situated at the top of their World Cup qualifying group, but only after a stunning display from Joe Hart helped them to a goalless draw with Slovenia on Tuesday night.
Here is how we rated Gareth Southgate’s men following the draw in Ljubljana…
Joe Hart: 9
England’s Joe Hart at the end of the match
As we have already mentioned, the Torino loanee’s display was vital as a string of high class saves spared England’s blushes on numerous occasions. The second-half stop from Kurtic, in particular, deserves to be remembered for years to come.
Kyle Walker: 5
The Tottenham defender struggled to make the kind of impression that he manages to make for his club when he has the ball at his feet. His defending was also questionable at times.
Gary Cahill: 6
The centre-back arguably put in a fairly solid display. His partnership with John Stones will undoubtedly need to improve, but that should happen the more experience they get playing alongside each other.
John Stones: 6
Stones tried to play his way out of trouble at times. And while it just about paid off tonight, there were certainly a few nervous moments.
Danny Rose: 6
The left-back looked lively going forward, but was not able to make that much of an impact in the final third. Like the rest of the back four, his defending was not always convincing.
Eric Dier: 4
The midfielder arguably failed to justify the decision to pick him over Wayne Rooney. His lazy back pass gifted Slovenia a golden chance early on, and he seemingly never recovered from the mistake.
Jordan Henderson: 5
England’s Jordan Henderson
The Liverpool man was made captain in Rooney’s absence, but failed to cope with the expectation. While he stood out against Malta at the weekend, this was a much more disappointing display.
Dele Alli: 5
On a night of little quality, Southgate would have been looking to someone like Alli to create something out of nothing. However, the Tottenham man failed to deliver and generally struggled in the advanced role.
Theo Walcott: 4
The Arsenal forward did not come close to replicating his recent displays for the Gunners against Slovenia. The fact that he was the one taken off shortly after the hour-mark highlights how ineffectual he was.
Jesse Lingard: 5
His most notable contribution was the scuffle in the latter stages of the game. He offered very little creativity. He did test Oblak with a stinging effort from around 25 yards.
Daniel Sturridge: 5
England’s Daniel Sturridge
Sturridge was so isolated up front that he was constantly dropping deeper to try and get involved in the action. When he did have the ball, he rarely made the right decision of what to do with it.
Substitutes:
Andros Townsend: 6
As always for England it seems, Townsend looked lively when brought on. Unfortunately, he was not able to take full advantage as the defenders began to tire.
Wayne Rooney: 5
Rooney should have come on with a point to prove given his omission from the starting line-up. However, he did little of note apart from a decent effort from the edge of the box which went narrowly wide.
Marcus Rashford: 5
Rashford had less than 10 minutes to make an impact, but by that point, both teams appeared somewhat accepting of the stalemate.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
