England v Czech Republic Betting Tips: Winning start for Three Lions?
Published:
Odds and preview for Euro 2020 qualifier
After a great 2018, England kick-off this year’s international campaign with a Euro 2020 qualifier at home to Czech Republic.
The Three Lions will be full of confidence after their run to the World Cup semi-finals and Nations League success.
Can they kick-off the road to Euro 2020 with a win? It gets started at 7:45pm on ITV, but we’ve already got the pre-match odds and info right here…
Head-to-Head
These sides have only ever met in two friendlies before. The first saw England win 2-0 in 1998.
But it took a last-gasp Joe Cole equaliser to seal a fortunate 2-2 draw back in 2008. The visitors would be very happy with a point this time around.
Likely XIs
John Stones’ injury means Michael Keane should start alongside Harry Maguire at the back for England. Ben Chilwell will have another chance to stake his claim as first-choice left-back.
Further forward, Declan Rice could make his England debut in a midfield trio. With Marcus Rashford out, Jadon Sancho’s in line to start in attack.
The Czechs will be without Tomas Vaclik in goal, though Werder Bremen’s Jiri Pavlenka is ready to fill in. Jaroslav Silhavy will hope he doesn’t lose captain Borek Dockal in midfield too.
Patrick Schick is set to line up as a lone forward, with Matej Vydra supporting from the right.
Key Battles
Czech Republic will look to sit deep and frustrate Southgate’s side. England need to move the ball around quickly to disrupt their shape at the back.
The full-backs could be crucial and both Chilwell and Kyle Walker can stretch play on the flanks.
When Silhavy’s team do get on the ball, they’ll hope Schick can hold it up and wait for support. The Roma forward’s height could also cause problems from any set-piece situations.
Match Odds
England are heavy 3/10 favourites, with a win to nil going for 3/4. The Czechs are 12/1 outsiders, with the draw priced at 4/1.
Harry Kane is unsurprisingly 11/5 favourite to open the scoring, with Raheem Sterling 13/8 to score anytime.
Sancho is also 11/5 to get his first international goal.
As the main threat for the away side, Schick is 5/1 to grab a goal.
Click here for the latest England v Czech Republic odds.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
