Two of the three Arsenal players in England’s squad for their European Championship Qualifier against Lithuania took part as the Three Lions continued their 100% start to their qualification campaign with a comprehensive 4-0 victory. Danny Welbeck started and played a prominent role, deservedly earning the Man Of The Match award. Theo Walcott replaced Welbeck with less than a quarter of the game remaining, whilst Kieran Gibbs remained an unused substitute.

Lithuania were abject, but England were impressive. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring, taking him just two goals short of Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time England goal-scoring record, before Welbeck scored England’s second just one minute before the interval. Raheem Sterling scored his first international goal at senior level early in the second-half, before Harry Kane marked his England debut with a goal, just 80 seconds after coming on as a substitute.

The majority of the pre-match build-up was dominated around Kane, and some were surprised by Welbeck’s inclusion ahead of the Tottenham forward. Nevertheless, Welbeck had scored five goals in four games throughout the qualification campaign, and he vindicated his selection with a fine all-round display. Rooney’s opener was largely down to the Arsenal man, who beat two defenders with fine trickery, before his powerful shot was parried straight into the path of his former Manchester Utd team-mate, who made no mistake from just five yards out. Welbeck and Rooney combined well again moments later; the former used his pace on the flank, before delivering an excellent cross into the England skipper, but Rooney’s header was thwarted by the crossbar.

Welbeck’s goal was somewhat fortunate. His brave header from Jordan Henderson’s cross was heavily deflected off Tadas Kijanskas, although it was initially on target, so the goal was credited to Welbeck. His pace and directness continued to trouble the visitors in the second-half, and he forced some sharp saves from the Lithuania keeper as England continued to dominate. However, unfortunately for England and Arsenal, Welbeck limped off after 77 minutes, and Roy Hodgson admitted that the 24-year-old has picked up a minor knee injury and will almost certainly be ruled out of England’s friendly with Italy on Tuesday.

This gives Walcott the opportunity to make an impression on the international stage. Walcott replaced Welbeck and made minimal impact as the game rather petered out. He linked up promisingly with Kane and Ross Barkley on occasions and got himself into some decent positions on the right-hand-side, but he didn’t have any goalscoring opportunities. With Sterling also unlikely to feature against Italy, Walcott is likely to be given a starting berth, and given the lack of first-team action he’s enjoyed for the Gunners recently, he has a fantastic chance to impress both Hodgson and Arsène Wenger against top-quality opposition.

Kieran Gibbs remained an unused substitute as Leighton Baines completed the full 90 minutes at left-back. After both Luke Shaw and Danny Rose pulled out of the squad through injury, Gibbs may be handed a start against the Italians on Tuesday evening. Like Walcott, Gibbs has not been a regular starter for Arsenal recently, with Nacho Monreal continuing to impress due to his consistent performances; therefore if started, Gibbs has a real point to prove.

Elsewhere, Calum Chambers completed 62 minutes with an assist and an overall solid display for England's U-21 side in a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic, whilst Santi Cazorla came off the bench in the closing stages as Spain secured a narrow 1-0 win at home against Ukraine in their European Championship Qualifier. The diminutive midfielder could be in line for a start against in Spain's friendly against Holland on Tuesday. Wenger will be desperately hoping that no fresh injuries are picked up by his players in the next few days, as he prepares for a crucial clash against Liverpool next weekend.