1) Should England give Butland a go in Malta?

Those who think a trip to Malta holds no fear for England goalkeepers have clearly not thought back as far as the friendly on 4 June 2000, when Richard Wright made his international bow and promptly conceded two penalties. Wright saved the second of them, making sure of a 2-1 win, but the damage was done and it is never a good sign when as sanguine a soul as Kevin Keegan says your debut “wasn’t as bad as it could have been”. Malta are unlikely to cause too many flutters this time around and if a goalkeeper makes headlines again it would probably be on account of Gareth Southgate shaking things up. He has kept faith in Joe Hart so far but the West Ham loanee has not had the happiest of starts to the season and has not kept a clean sheet in his last 23 club games; it would be a big statement to drop him but this might not be the worst stage on which to remind Tom Heaton or, more likely, Jack Butland that they hold credible claims to the position. At some point England will need to make the change and it would surely do little harm to divide out some of the labour in advance. As long as the video nasty of Wright’s performance is saved until afterwards, it could be a useful confidence boost for either keeper.

2) McGoldrick could give Ireland the spark they need

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The Republic of Ireland have Georgia on their minds in a week that will probably be decisive to their hopes of winning Group D. Expectations are high: they have taken maximum points from both their previous visits to Tbilisi, a venue where others have suffered bloody noses in the past, and have won all eight of their previous matches against the Caucasian state. After Saturday’s match is navigated they wait three days to face leaders Serbia at home; it could well be a showdown for automatic qualification, with Wales and Austria currently lagging four points behind the top two, but there is still a sense that Martin O’Neill’s side have to work exceptionally hard for every result and a little spark around the attacking third would go a long way in both games. To that end the presence of David McGoldrick is a welcome boost; the Ipswich forward has won only five caps since making his international debut three years ago, but that owes much to some rotten fortune with injuries and the good news is that he now looks sharper than at any time since. This time in 2014 McGoldrick seemed set for an £8m move to Leicester before Ipswich held firm; there are few more naturally gifted forwards at his level and an Ireland team with scant offensive variety could benefit richly from his renaissance.

3) Scotland seek to exploit chink of light in Lithuania

How different Scotland’s prospects would look if, having turned their match with England in June right around, they could have kept their heads for a couple of minutes. Harry Kane’s last-gasp goal at Hampden Park may well prove to have been a fatal wound but there is enough about the makeup of Group F to suggest all is not quite lost. It would be a remarkable feat for Gordon Strachan to bring them back from the brink – the atmosphere inside Hampden was toxic as recently as two games ago before Chris Martin’s dramatic winner against Slovenia – yet suddenly a play-off spot does not seen an outrageous demand. At least one of Slovenia and Slovakia, the teams they must overhaul, will drop points when they play in Trnava on Friday and Scotland ought to have few problems against Malta next Monday. All well and good – provided they can negotiate a tricky tie in Lithuania first. Lithuania have only lost at home once to the Scots and drew at Hampden last October; the match will be played on an artificial pitch in Vilnius and Gordon Strachan has been quick to play that down as a factor. He says that, whatever the surface, his team feel more confident after their recent upturn. If that is borne out in results then they might save their skin – and their manager’s, too.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gordon Strachan needs an upturn in results if he is to continue as Scotland manager past this World Cup qualifying campaign. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters

4) Ukraine give Fifa cause for discomfort

Ukraine lie a lowly fourth in Group I and, though they would never admit it, you cannot imagine Fifa would want it any other way. The crisis with neighbouring Russia shows no sign of being resolved in time for next year so, with the countries’ clubs already barred from facing one another in European competition, just how big would the logistical nightmare be if Ukraine qualified for the World Cup? It is far more of a possibility than the standings suggest; only two points separate them from the top two, Croatia and Iceland, and if they overcome third-placed Turkey in Kharkiv on Saturday the alarm bells may become louder than ever. A trip to Reykjavik follows quickly afterwards and you wonder exactly what plans are being drawn up in case Andriy Shevchenko, whose team have improved since their poor Euro 2016 showing and certainly have the firepower to win both games, leads Ukraine through the group. It remains hypothetical, but football’s governing body would be faced with one of the biggest headaches they have ever been dealt.

5) Can Asensio or Belotti break the deadlock in Madrid?

The Bernabéu will feel like a World Cup final venue on Saturday and with good reason. One of Spain and Italy will have to fight out qualification through the play-offs and, after a year of shadow boxing in an otherwise insipid Group G, it effectively comes down to this. The pair are tied on points, although Spain’s goal difference is four better and their remaining fixtures look a marginally preferable bet to improve on that front, and if either side can edge clear they are unlikely to be pulled back. They played each other three times last year and are familiar foes, but each team has an extra x-factor this time around. Marco Asensio and Andrea Belotti could both start, the former on his home ground; they have enjoyed spectacular starts to the season with Real Madrid and Torino, and breathe a fresh element of unpredictability into one of Europe’s most storied rivalries. If Italy could claim an edge after their excellent 2-0 win at Euro 2016, a dominant performance by Spain in Turin last October – when La Roja were unlucky to draw 1-1 – removed it to some extent. It should be an unmissable occasion and would set up either side’s presence at the World Cup nicely if one of their newer stars had the decisive say.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Andrea Belotti arrives for international duty in form on the back of this acrobatic goal against Sassuolo in Serie A last weekend. Photograph: Alessandro Di Marco/EPA

6) Messi and Argentina look for a lifeline in Uruguay

If Lionel Messi fancied some sanctuary from Barcelona’s troubled summer he would probably have picked quieter surroundings than a Thursday night in Montevideo. But into the fire he goes, and Argentina need him as much as they ever have. Messi missed an immensely damaging 2-0 defeat in Bolivia five months ago after being given a four-game international ban, the rest of which was lifted on appeal. He returns with Argentina fifth in the Conmebol qualifying group, a point behind Uruguay and Chile; they have four games left and defeat against the Uruguayans, in one of the world’s most hotly-contested derbies, would leave them scrambling. If they finish fifth they will require the hurdle of an intercontinental play-off against New Zealand or the Solomon Islands; that might not seem a big deal but it could even be a best-case scenario if today’s opponents, who have won six out of seven at home, hit form again. Uruguay in fact have their own problems; they have lost their last five games, including friendlies, and have let a commanding position slip. It might be a good time for Argentina, playing a competitive fixture under Jorge Sampaoli for the first time, to face their old rivals – and the stakes could not be a lot higher. A home meeting with Venezuela follows five days later but this is not the time to rely on the weaker teams as insurance.

7) France hope to avoid deadline distractions

A crucial qualifier on transfer deadline day is not, in the current climate, a perfect scenario for France. Kylian Mbappé’s future should, at least, have been resolved before they kick off against Holland and presumably Thomas Lemar will know where he is spending his season too. Didier Deschamps will need maximum focus from his team in what has become a potentially decisive fixture and to that end it is slightly ironic that the player he left out of the squad as a result of transfer speculation, Ousmane Dembélé, is the one of his young tyros whose future has since been rubber-stamped. The pressure is, at least, on a disappointing Holland team that sits three points adrift of France and Sweden. They cannot afford to lose if they are to have serious designs on Russia 2018; France, meanwhile, hope six points from this match and Tuesday’s game with Luxembourg will cause leaders Sweden, who have slippery assignments in Bulgaria and Belarus, to crack. As long as their players’ minds are on the job, you would fancy their chances.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Thomas Lemar is in the France squad but his club future is up in the air. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

8) DR Congo and Burkina Faso eye surprises in Africa

Five double-headers form the pivot of Africa’s short, sharp group stage and the possibilities are mouthwatering. Nigeria’s back-to-back games with Cameroon in Group B are the obvious attraction although the Africa Cup of Nations champions, who are four points behind the Super Eagles, will need at least a win and a draw to hold realistic hope of a place in Russia. Algeria stand to fall short in that quartet too and the bunching up of those three powers increases the chances of an unfamiliar name emerging from the other groups. The most appealing story for the romantic would probably be progression for DR Congo, whose 1974 World Cup finals appearance as Zaire remains notorious; they lead a patchy Tunisia on goal difference and play them twice in the next week. Instinct says they have a great chance but if they fall short there is always Burkina Faso, perhaps Africa’s most attractive footballing side of the last half-decade, who lead Group D by a whisker and must face off against Senegal. Egypt, for their part, will almost certainly be home and dry – at Ghana’s expense – for their first finals since 1990 if they do not slip up on either occasion against Uganda. The picture will be far clearer in five days’ time but it would be the proverbial breath of fresh air if some less familiar names made it through.

9) Australia see path to Russia open up

Australia’s qualifying campaign has hardly sent pulses racing but suddenly Group B of the Asian competition has opened up for them. Today’s match in Saitama would have had a life-or-death look to it had Saudi Arabia, second in the group, not let a lead slip against United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and lost 2-1. It means any kind of result will put Ange Postecoglou’s side into the top two – both of whom progress to Russia automatically – and a win would see them leapfrog Japan in pole position with an appealing home fixture against Thailand, on Tuesday, to come. They can take part from an encouraging Confederations Cup campaign that, although it ended winless, brought some enterprising football against good sides – particularly in their 1-1 draw against Chile. Some questioned whether their performance in Moscow that night, which saw Tom Rogic and Aaron Mooy left out of the starting lineup, came via accident or design but it set a standard for how Australia need to set about top-class opposition and a similar level of application in Japan could make their road to the World Cup easier than they might have imagined.

10) US hope to lay Costa Rica ghosts to rest

It was a rotten night in Costa Rica that sent Jürgen Klinsmann past the point of no return, but revenge against the same opponents would create a halo effect around Bruce Arena. The US are unbeaten in a marathon 14-game streak since Arena began his second spell in charge last November; their victory in the Concacaf Gold Cup boded well and it did little harm that the Costa Ricans, who humbled them 4-0 10 months ago, were the team they defeated in the last four. Friday’s match at Red Bull Arena – the first World Cup qualifier to take place at the stadium – is of far more consequence in the broader picture and a win should give them a significant advantage over fourth-placed Panama, who travel to Mexico. Arena’s squad has defensive issues, with John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin both injured, but the progress of Christian Pulisic continues delight and a similar performance to the two-goal haul he produced against Trinidad & Tobago in their last home qualifier might lay the ghosts of last year to rest for good.