Euro 2016 Qualifiers: Team-by-team guide to the home nations' groups and fixtures

Rooney heads England's second against Scotland in 2014's friendly

The home nations have made encouraging starts to their Euro 2016 qualification campaigns. Joe Dyer rounds up the state of play before the latest round of qualifiers...

Club football takes a back seat this week with the return of the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

It's been more than four months since a ball was kicked in anger during the qualification campaign and you can be forgiven for having forgotten how the home nations are getting on.

Here's a whistle-stop guide to the upcoming fixtures and the state of play in the groups.

Friday
England v Lithuania, KO 19:45

Saturday
Israel v Wales, KO 17:00

Sunday
Scotland v Gibraltar, KO 17:00

Northern Ireland v Finland, KO 17:00

Republic of Ireland v Poland, KO 19:45

England
Roy Hodgson's team have won all four games in Group E so far, conceding just once. They are short odds-on to win the group (1.091/11) and virtually unbackable to qualify at 1.031/33. Amazingly, they are the fourth favourites to win the tournament, shorter than Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands at 13.012/1. Though results have been positive, a 2-0 win in Switzerland apart, performances have not been exceptional with the Three Lions' last showing (a 3-1 Wembley win over Slovenia) particularly woeful. Captian Wayne Rooney has scored five times in qualifying but all eyes will be on Harry Kane on Friday night. The young Spurs forward received his first senior international call-up and will almost definitely see some game time.

Wales
Chris Coleman's side are unbeaten in what has been a hugely encouraging qualifying campaign so far. Four games have yielded two wins and two draws to occupy second place, the stalemates both ending 0-0 against World Cup 2014 participants Belgium and Bosnia. Next up is a top of the table clash at surprise group leaders Israel, who have won all three fixtures so far including a 3-0 defeat of Bosnia last time out.

Scotland
Drawn in a horror show of a group with world champions Germany, dangerous Poland and international neighbours Republic of Ireland, Gordon Strachan's team have put up a good show so far. Their campaign started with defeat to Germany, but they are unbeaten since with wins over Georgia and Ireland sandwiching a good 2-2 away draw with Poland. A friendly against England ended in defeat but Strachan's side should return to winning ways at the earliest possible opportunity - they are 1.910/11 to beat Northern Ireland in a friendly on Wednesday night, and just 1.021/50 to beat Gibraltar on Sunday night.

Northern Ireland
A sensational campaign was checked by Romania last time out but Northern Ireland are still in the Group F mix, just one point off the lead after opening up with three straight wins. Kyle Lafferty's goals have driven Michael O'Neill's side to this stage with three in the four fixtures. Betfair's Sportsbook has Northern Ireland at 7.5n/a to win the group, which suggests they won't catch Romania but a runners-up spot against weak opposition (Hungary, Finland, Faroe Islands and Greece are the other teams in Group F) is certainly achievable.

Republic of Ireland
The first two group games brought a pair of wins but, although it's been tougher going since, a draw against Germany and slim away defeat to Scotland are hardly shameful results. Martin O'Neill's men are level on points with Germany and Scotland but below the pair due to goal difference and head-to-head results. They will be doing well to keep pace with that pair after this set of fixtures with group leaders Poland in Dublin. The early odds, however, suggest the Republic - with evergreen Robbie Keane still the main man - will be marginal favourites to land the win.