Euro Qualifiers Betting Tips: Four England stars who are bang in form

• Trent reimagined to good effect

• Stones set to shut out the Lynxes

• Kane to shoot down Malta

It's hardly ideal to have two important international fixtures tacked on to the end of a season.

Players are tired and just want to lie on faraway beaches. Some are carrying knocks, even putting off surgeries. Others celebrated a Champions League triumph this week with the same drunken gusto as excitable freshers.

All things being equal, England will comfortably beat Malta this Friday evening, then negotiate three points from North Macedonia with the minimum of pushback, but even so, there are unique factors for Gareth Southgate to consider when making his team selections.

Thankfully, at his disposal he has these four players, who will come good no matter the circumstances, bang in form as they are.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool's turnaround in fortunes from early April on can partly be attributed to the 24-year-old being increasingly used as an inverted full-back, stepping into midfield when the Reds had possession.

It's a role that Southgate described as 'really exciting' last month and there is every chance we might see it deployed against Malta, especially as England won't start with two conventional 6s, against significantly inferior opposition.

As for Trent's form, from a low bar early in the season he has rediscovered the player that he used to be. Impactful. Pro-active and confident.

This is best exemplified by his assists, with just two from August to April, then a highly impressive seven in his last 10 outings.

John Stones

The Barnsley Beckenbauer will no doubt be 'rested' this Friday, to allow the fug to clear post-Istanbul. Against North Macedonia however, Southgate will surely turn to a player who deserves as much credit as anyone for Manchester City's tremendous treble.

Flourishing in a new hybrid role that saw him routinely stride into midfield from the back, Stones' influence on City's structure and performances grew and grew as a trophy-laden season reached its conclusion. Towards the end, he was putting in weekly masterclasses that had armchair tacticians drooling.

There will be no such positional ingenuity at Old Trafford on Monday. Instead, he'll likely be stationed at the back alongside Harry Maguire, entrusted to step out only when he has the ball at his feet, but that's okay.

The pair have partnered up in defence for the Three Lions on 39 occasions, losing only six times and keeping a formidable 24 clean sheets. With Stones and Maguire as centre-backs, England have conceded every 132.2 minutes.

Eberechi Eze

It remains to be seen how many minutes Eze gets from his first senior call-up, a just reward for being largely sensational in the final quarter of 2022/23.

Neither Phil Foden or Jack Grealish is expected to feature in both games so that offers up an opportunity, but then there's James Maddison to contend with.

Crystal Palace's creative dervish out-shone Maddison when they met in April in what proved to be a pivotal game for both club and player, it being Roy Hodgson's first fixture back in charge and the start of the Eagle's recovery.

Previously on the periphery under Vieira, Eze scored six and assisted once in his last nine games, running defences ragged in the process.

Now - in his own words - he is 'at peace' and enjoying his football again, and the attacking midfielder absolutely has it in him to make a memorable opening impression.

Harry Kane

Granted, it would be far more note-worthy if Kane was out of sorts and misfiring. After all, regularly finding the back of the net is the norm for the Tottenham striker so it feels somewhat unnecessary to highlight him as a player to watch.

Even by his own lofty standards though, England's record goal-scorer has been prolific of late, firing 12 in 12 in the Premier League to complete a career-equaling best return of 30 for the season.

No other player in the top-flight took on more shots across 2022/23, 130 all told.