England need another improved performance at Estonia when European Championship qualifying continues tomorrow or their chances of reaching next year's tournament could fade further.
France have no such concerns when it hosts Georgia in another of the day's 19 games, but Italy are at Lithuania having already drawn against its lowly opponent in qualifying.
Most of the continent's major teams are in action, four days after the last round.
England could be as much as eight points off the lead if it slips in Tallinn. Croatia host Russia, and Israel are at Andorra in Group E's other games.
England should be confident though after recalled former captain David Beckham and a standout performance by Steven Gerrard helped them draw 1-1 on Friday in a friendly against Brazil. England improved upon their recent lackluster showings and were only denied victory when the five-time world champion equalized in the last minute.
Beckham should start on the right of midfield again at Estonia, with England needing a victory to stay in touch with the three teams above it.
Croatia leads after Saturday's 1-0 win over Estonia, which has lost all six of its matches without scoring, with Israel and Russia two points off the top.
England coach Steve McClaren was jeered at England's last three qualifying matches — a 2-0 loss at Croatia, a 0-0 draw at Israel, and an uninspiring 3-0 win at Andorra — and desperately wants a victory.
McClaren may play Gerrard in a more attacking role against Estonia even though the Liverpool midfielder was man of the match against Brazil in a holding position. Peter Crouch is likely to replace Alan Smith up front, while Terry should recover from a tight hamstring to take his place in central defense.
Beckham set up Terry for his headed goal against Brazil, and his crosses and free kicks could prove crucial against a defense that has conceded 11 goals in six matches.
Russia stayed within two points of Croatia on Saturday with an easy 4-0 win over Andorra, but coach Guus Hiddink wants his team to be more ruthless.
"We could have scored more goals," Hiddink said. "I didn't like that we have created so many scoring chances but failed to convert them."
Russia and Croatia played to a 0-0 draw in their opening qualifier in September and Hiddink said a repeat in Zagreb would be a good result.
Midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who strained his leg in practice for the match against Andorra, will travel to Croatia in case he recovers.
Alexandr Kerzhakov is fit after his three-goal performance on Saturday, with his 54th-minute substitution an attempt to rest him.
With the top two teams from each group qualifying for the tournament in Austria and Switzerland, Italy are on course in Group B even after a disappointing 2-1 win at the Faeroe Islands on Saturday.
Italy's qualifying campaign started with a 1-1 home draw against Lithuania, and the World Cup champions — second behind France — know they need to improve for the rematch.
Defender Gianluca Zambrotta and Massimo Ambrosini, who missed Saturday's game with minor injuries, trained on Sunday and are set to return.
Italy have three players — Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso — who will miss September's crucial qualifier with France if they get another yellow card against Lithuania.
France, who have 15 points to Italy's 13, will likely play Mickael Landreau instead of injured goalkeeper Gregory Coupet and may be without defender William Gallas because of a thigh strain.
Gallas, who played in Saturday's 2-0 win over Ukraine, could be replaced by Julien Escude.
Scotland, who are tied for third place with Ukraine on 12 points, are at the Faeroe Islands after a confidence-boosting 1-0 friendly win at Austria.
Three-time European champions Germany could make themselves an overwhelming favorite to qualify from Group D if they beat Slovakia to go five points clear of the Czech Republic.
Germany have several players injured, including Michael Ballack and Lukas Podolski.
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