* Wales have not qualified for the European Championships in 35 years, their only appearance, when they were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Yugoslavia.
* They are aiming to qualify for the third major championship in their history. The closest they have come to qualification in recent years was in 2004 when a defeat to Russia in the European Championships play-off saw them miss out on qualification after finishing second in their group behind Italy.
* Wales have only won three games out of 12 meetings against England and their last victory came 27 years ago.
* This game will be manager Gary Speed’s second in charge of the national side, but his first competitive match since taking over from John Toshack in December 2010. He will be hoping the game goes better than his first, which was a 3-0 defeat to Republic of Ireland in the Nations Cup in February.
* Wales star player Gareth Bale, who has been ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury, could have been part of the England set-up as he qualifies to play for them through his English grandmother.
* England have an excellent record against the home nations, having won 68 times in 144 games against Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Against Wales they are particularly dominant, winning seven of their 12 encounters and they are unbeaten against them in their last two matches.
* This will be Fabio Capello’s first match against a home nation since he became England manager in December 2007.
* England have only played one game away from home during this qualifying campaign, and it ended in a 3-1 victory over Switzerland in September. Goals from Darren Bent, Adam Johnson and Wayne Rooney secured victory in Basel.
* The Three Lions are currently in second place in Group G and a victory in this match could move them above leaders Montenegro on goal difference.
* Matt Jarvis could win his first cap after being called up by Fabio Capello. If he does play he will be the first Wolves player since Steve Bull in 1990 to play for the national team.
LAST MEETING
September 3, 2005: Wales 0-1 England
England secured an important victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium thanks to a second-half strike from Joe Cole, a victory that kept them on course for qualification to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Wales struggled to apply much pressure on the England defence in front of an expectant 70,000 crowd, with only John Hartson really testing Paul Robinson.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Wales: Hennessey; Eardley, J Collins, Williams, Gunter; Crofts, Ramsey, Ledley, Vaughan; Bellamy, Morison.
England: Hart; Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole; Lennon, Lampard, Wilshere, Young; Carroll, Rooney.
Prediction
The loss of Gareth Bale so close to the match will hurt Wales and despite some of the Welsh players being in good form, England should have too much for them to seal an away victory and a return to the top of Group G.
Wales 1-3 England 
