Trent Alexander Arnold's new nickname after shining in England's No10 shirt

England's inertia and without too much wear and tear, with an own goal and two penalties, saw them come out on top in Malta, a lesser side who never really troubled Gareth Southgate's side. The English side extended their run of form and consolidated their lead in this qualifying phase. The European Championship runners-up have now won three straight Group C games and are in commanding form.

They added the win over Malta to their victories over Italy and Ukraine in the first two rounds. On Monday, they host Macedonia, against whom they can pave the way to the finals. Malta represent the opposite. They are bottom of the quintet and have lost every game. Michele Marcolini's side, moreover, made life easy for their opponents. On nine minutes, Bukayo Saka's right-wing raid that ended with a cross into the box saw Ferinando Apap put the ball into his own net as he tried to prevent it reaching Harry Kane.

England had hardly done anything special and were already in the lead and they extended it twenty minutes later, in the 29th minute, with Trent Alexander Arnold's long-range effort that picked up a rebound and beat Henry Bonello. It was Gareth Southgate's side's best minutes of the game and they stepped up a gear. In the 31st minute they got their third when a foul inside the box by Matthew Guillaume, who caught Harry Kane as he went for a ball that had been turned away by the keeper, resulted in an uncontested penalty. It was converted by the Tottenham striker himself to add to his tally.

The nickname

Still in the second half England were able to score a goal through a penalty taken by Newcastle striker Callum Wilson. The best player of the team was undoubtedly Trent Alexander Arnold, who surprised everyone by wearing the number 10 on his shirt and is now being called the new Gerrard on social media, a reference to the fact that the Liverpool legend once wore the number 10 for the national team.