England v Ukraine: Women’s World Cup qualifier – live | Women’s World Cup 2027 qualifiers

50 mins: Russo has a snapshot from inside the box but it is blocked.

Moments later Greenwood lines up a free-kick from the other side of 30 yards but it is straight at the wall.

48 mins: No surprise but it is all England at the moment. I will predict five second half goals.

46 mins: Some half times changes …

Hlushchenko and Radionova are on for Ukraine. Kohut and Kunina off.

Mead and Greenwood enter the pitch for England, Morgan and James off.

Here we go again!

Spain are winning 3-0 in Iceland. No concerns of any shocks tonight.

Tom Garry

It’s been one-way traffic. If you think this game is one-sided, just wait for October’s play-off first round tie against a League C team! The fans at the Hill Dickinson seem to be enjoying it, nonetheless. There are two little pockets of Ukraine fans who are also in good voice, too, as the sun sets to my left over the Mersey.

Tony Mason emails: “I must take issue with your statement that the cost of tickets to see England at Wembley was “incredibly expensive”. This is a misconception. The cheapest England tickets at Wembley are and have been since the “new” Wembley opened are about the same price as a League 1 fixture. Slightly more than I pay to see Notts County. There are also many of the cheapest tickets so you don’t even need to be waiting on a Ticketmaster queue to get them.

“Also, although Wembley isn’t the best positioned ground in the country it isn’t that hard to get to from much of the country. From Nottingham I would get home after an evening kick-off at about 00:30. My mate travels in from Bristol and it is about the same. Granted, we drive but coaches do run from the major cities.

“Having said that, it is always nice to see them around the country.”

I’ve just put in for the best available ticket for the Czechia game in October and it’s £120. You can, in fairness, get tickets for £35 but I really wouldn’t want to travel three hours to then sit at the top in the corner. That’s just me.

This has not been much of a contest, well any contest whatsoever. The main surprise is that England have not managed to get more than two but ahead very much out of sight thanks to Carter and Stanway.

45 mins: One minute added on.

44 mins: Hemp receives the ball around 20 yards out, spins a defender and fires a shot but flies over the bar.

43 mins: James curls a free-kick from the edge of the box just over the bar.

41 mins: A band is trying to whip the crowd up with Sweet Caroline, the most overplayed song in history.

39 mins: With confidence renewed, Hemp whips in a cross from the right into a dangerous position but no one is there to get on the end of it.

The Lionesses needed that. Russo sneaks around the back and slides the ball across to Stanway who slides home at the back post.

36 mins: James loops in a cross from the left which Boklach comes to claim but it takes her two attempts to get the ball under control.

England and the atmosphere have gone quite flat.

34 mins: England have a corner on the right. Le Tissier and James combine once more but it is a slow burner, with the ball belatedly being sent into the box by Walsh, only to be easily collected by the goalkeeper.

32 mins: England are too casual at the back and it gifts Boychuk a first chance of the match but her shot from the edge of the box is scuffed.

30 mins: England will be disappointed they have not got a second but, in truth, they have not come that close to adding to the tally.

The ball goes into the box again but Charles is penalised for something or other.

28 mins: Hemp crashes into the hoardings after a challenge in the box. After brushing herself down, she is up and ready to go again.

Blindkilde Brown has not got into the game much thus far. I would like to see more of her. Just as I write that, she gets in a good position in the box but is tackled before she can shoot. Not to worry, as the ball lands at Russo’s feet but she lashes over.

26 mins: Same old story without England being able to penetrate.

24 mins: Le Tissier should do better from a Charles pull-back but the defender is leaning back and whacks her shot from 12 yards well over.

England currently enjoying more than 86% possession.

22 mins: Hampton’s only involvement thus far has been with her feet. I am not sure she will be kept occupied by shots here.

Russo’s shirt is held when 30 yards out with her back to goal. England take it quickly but Hemp is pushed backwards.

Hemp then thinks she has a great chance to score but Shaynyuk puts in a perfect tackle in the nick of time.

20 mins: The free-kick is tapped to Hemp who fires a shot from 20 yards but Boklach moves quickly to her left to save.

The goalkeeper is tested soon after when Russo meets a cross but her header lacks power and Boklach collects.

18 mins: Stanway and Hemp combine well, allowing the latter to pick out James inside the box but her shot is blocked.

England have a free-kick in a dangerous position after James is bundled over …

Tom Garry

17 mins: That feels like it’ll be the first of many. Lauren James’ cross was sumptuous. But Ukraine can’t even get close to her. It could be a long night for the visitors. The home fans here really enjoyed that goal and they’re all on their feet but England can’t get too excited to be ahead – Spain are already winning in Iceland.

16 mins: I think it is fair to say the goal was coming.

Russo is the next to have a chance but her header loops well wide.

Hemp wins another corner. Le Tissier decides to take another one short to James. This forward shows some trickery before chipping a cross to the back post from where Carter nods home across the goalkeeper.

12 mins: England have a corner on the right. Le Tissier takes it short to James who pings it towards the far top corner, only to see her shot bounce off bar and post into the goalkeeper’s arms.

10 mins: The free-kick comes to nothing but England continue to attack.

The space is outwide for England, may I suggest James drifts further over to the left. She would be more dangerous than Charles out there.

8 mins: Hemp aims for Russo in the box but a Ukrainian head meets the cross. I will guess the possession stats as being Eng 98%-2% Ukraine.

Le Tissier is crudely taken down by Boychuk just outside the box.

Spain are ahead in Iceland. No surprise there.

6 mins: Charles is starting very high on the left and being allowed to push forward from full-back. England will have plenty of freedom to attack considering the lack of ambition among the Ukrainians.

4 mins: Ukraine try to break but Le Tissier is there to tidy up.

England start again from the back from move up the pitch in a composed manner. Hemp has a cross blocked but the ball is recycled and ends up back with the City winger, who shoots from 20 yards only to hit it straight at the goalkeeper.

2 mins: A positive start from England as they pushed forward to put pressure on the Ukrainian backline. The visitors are keen to defend as deep as humanly possible.

Hemp puts in a dangerous cross from the right but it drifts over everyone inside the box.

Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!

Tom Garry

Smoke fills the air as fireworks jet out from the side of the pitch as the players emerge to a crowd of around 30,000. The upper tier is mostly empty, but the lower bowl is busy. Ukraine’s players each have their national flag wrapped around them as they sing their anthem, which receives a generous round of applause from the home fans.

The Ukraine players, each clad in a national flag, sing the national anthem.

ITV are not particularly interested in this game, they have spoken about Friday night for about 15 mins. Look forward, folks.

Sarina Wiegman: “Every game you don’t win, it hurts. Friday was a hard one because we didn’t create any momentum.

“Of course you want to win but always when we lose, win or draw we look at things we can do better but when you lose it makes it more urgent.

“We want to have some freshness and some other players. We expect very tight spaces and she [Blindkilde Brown] position herself really well, she finds the ball and that’s why we brought her in.”

Gordon emails in: “After the debacle of last Friday, and, let us not forget, a poor performance in Iceland, many were calling for changes in the England XI, and, indeed, I am pleased to see Le Tissier, Charles, and Blindkilde Brown starting tonight.

“But, to me, it is inexplicable that Walsh and Stanway retain their spots. These two were embarrassingly poor against Spain last Friday – they had rings run round them by Putellas and co. Their inclusion tonight begs the question – how poor do they have to be to get dropped? Lucia Kendall and Jess Park should be playing in their place.

“I have belatedly realised that Sarina Wiegman has been without her long-time assistant Arjan Veurink since last year’s Euros triumph – he is now the head coach of the Netherlands Women. I am beginning to think that he was the brains of the outfit.”

Will England bounce back or will they be pulped?

It is only four changes for Wiegman tonight, so not as many as some anticipated but will freshen things up.

Not just about England tonight. There will be a decent amount in the away end.

It is great to see England playing away from Wembley. The only time I had much interest in the national side was when they were travelling around during the construction of the new stadium. Getting to Wembley from pretty much anywhere outside London is a massive pain and it is incredibly expensive for tickets, as a general rule.

Pre-match reading …

England (4-3-3): Hampton; Le Tissier, Carter, Morgan, Charles; Walsh, Stanway, Blindkilde Brown; Hemp, Russo, James.

Subs: Bronze, Moorhouse, Toone, Wubben-Moy, Greenwood, Kelly, Kendall, Mead, Park, Baggaley, Beever-Jones, Fisk

Ukraine (4-2-3-1): Boklach; Savka, Olkhova, Shmatko, Shaynyuk; Kotyk, Zaborovets; Molodiuk, Kohut, Kunina; Boychuk.

Subs: Basanska, Hlushchenko, Holovach, Keliushyk, Khrystiuk, Kotiash, Podolska, Radionova, Samson, Semkiv

This will almost certainly not be the end of England’s World Cup qualifying campaign because, barring a strange set of results tonight, they will be heading into the playoffs later this year. The Lionesses are level of points with Spain but sit second thanks to an inferior head-to-head records having been thrashed on Friday in Mallorca.

Sarina Wiegman is set to make changes at Hill Dickinson Stadium tonight. The dreadful result in Spain may have influenced the decision but after a lengthy season, some players will need a rest. England are strong favourites in Liverpool, so rotation is unlikely to harm their chances.

Kick-off: 8pm BST.