When you're an England fan, the international break is like two weeks of white noise. It's not enjoyable to watch or listen to and it's hard to tell whether the occasional, exciting on-screen flickers have any real significance amid the Three Lions' half century of trophy-less malaise.
Overall, supporting England has become increasingly tedious and tonight's friendly against Spain, a notably superior opponent who will dominate the ball, looks set to be no different.
Indeed, it seems the Premier League audience would benefit more from pushing their interests further afield this evening and with that in mind, we're advising Chelsea fans to tune into Italy and Germany's friendly instead - which kicks off 15 minutes before England's Wembley snoozefest. Here are THREE reasons why.
Wing-backs galore
Wing-backs have become a hot topic of discussion in Chelsea's transfer rumour columns since Antonio Conte's switch to a 3-4-3 formation instigated a dramatic uplift in results at Stamford Bridge. It appears to be the Italian's preferred long-term system but Marcos Alonso isn't exactly a world-class option on the left, whilst it seems inevitable a lack of natural defensive nous will catch up with the right-sided Victor Moses at some point in the coming weeks.
Fortunately for Chelsea fans, the Italy and Germany squads are overflowing with potential replacements, not least including AC Milan's Mattia De Sciglio, Davide Zappacosta, Luca Antonelli, Sebastian Rudy, Joshua Kimmich, Yannick Gerhardt and Benjamin Henrichs - his sensational performance against Spurs in the Champions League is detailed in numbers above.
Of course, some are more attainable than others and not all will be utilised in wing-back capacities this evening. But the clash gives Chelsea fans a chance to determine which wing-backs suit their formation and style of play best - and if any actually improve upon the Blues' current options.
Italian prospects
Conte hasn't pumped his Chelsea squad full of countrymen as some tabloids wildly speculated he would during the summer, but it seems inevitable the former Azzurri boss will dip more and more into the Italian market as his Stamford Bridge tenure goes on.
And due to the nature of their opposition during the current international break, thumping Liechtenstein 4-0 on Saturday before facing Germany in a friendly tonight, manager Giampiero Ventura has selected a particularly young Italy squad, drafting 14 players with ten caps or fewer and seven aged 22 or younger.
A Chelsea transfer may be some way off but nonetheless, Italy's line-up tonight could well contain a few Blues stars of the future. Ones to watch out for include teenage goalkeeping sensation Gianluigi Donnarumma, Juventus prospect Daniele Rugani and free-scoring forward Andrea Belotti.
Romagnoli - better than David Luiz?
Make no mistake, David Luiz has been fantastic since returning to Stamford Bridge, providing the confidence and quality in possession required to excel in the central role of a three-man defence. In Conte's 3-4-3 formation, he's now surely one of the first names on the team-sheet.
But the transfer murmurings suggest he wasn't Chelsea's first option central defender during the summer, with AC Milan rejecting a £34million bid for their star centre-back Alessio Romagnoli just days before the Brazilian left PSG for west London.
Having since become a regular fixture in the Azzurri backline, the 21-year-old looks set to start against Germany tonight. His performance will give Chelsea fans the chance to assess whether their club chose the right option during the summer, or should have dug a little deeper to sign the Italy prodigy.
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