12 Jun 2019
A sell-out for Friday night lights at Wembley Stadium. What better start to a European Championship campaign for Gareth Southgate’s England? They take on the Czech Republic riding a wave of euphoria, following their journey to the World Cup semi-finals and their UEFA Nations League Finals in November, playing an expansive, exciting brand of football that has for so long been lacking at international level.
Southgate’s side will hope to pick up three points before Monday’s trip to Montenegro and the Genting Casino football odds of 3/10 for England to win suggest this should be a straightforward task.
The Czech Republic, who failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, finished as runners-up to Ukraine in Nations League Group B and are 10/1 to win at Wembley. The draw is on offer at 4/1.
The teams have met twice before, both in friendlies at Wembley, with England securing a win and a draw. They scored twice on each occasion and their odds to score over 1.5 goals are 8/15 this time.
TEAM NEWS
With Fabian Delph, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Luke Shaw all withdrawing through injury, Callum Hudson-Odoi, John Stones and James Ward-Prowse have all been drafted into the squad.
The inclusion of Hudson-Odoi, in particular, is interesting since the Chelsea man has still yet to start a Premier League game.
The winger received his first U21 call up last week, but had barely had time to introduce himself to his new teammates as he was summoned to St George’s Park to join the senior outfit.
The good news for Southgate is that Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson has been cleared for international duty by Jurgen Klopp. Henderson limped off against Bayern Munich last week with an ankle injury and missed the trip to Fulham on Sunday.
West Ham’s Declan Rice looks certain to gain his first international cap for the Three Lions, although he may not start and could be saved for a full debut on Monday.
Southgate will have been relieved to see Jordan Pickford in good form for Everton in their win over Chelsea on Sunday and he may well start in goal.
The Genting Casino international football odds for England to keep a clean sheet against the Czech Republic are 4/7.
Burnley striker Matej Vydra could lead the line for the Czechs. He has managed one Premier League goal this season in 11 appearances, and also netted in Burnley’s fleeting Europa League campaign. He is one of the more likely scorers for the visitors and is 11/2 to score at any time and 16/1 to score the first goal – odds which suggest England may have a comfortable night.
THREE LIONS TO ROAR?
England conceded just one goal in five Wembley triumphs on their way to Russia 2018, before coming through a tough UEFA Nations pool comprising Spain and Croatia.
The Three Lions were also perfect in the Euro 2016 qualifying stages, with 10 straight wins. They also won eight and drew two fixtures on their way to qualifying for Russia.
Just six goals were conceded in those 20 fixtures, so if this trend holds, the Czech Republic’s odds of 13/10 to score at least once (over 0.5 goals) would appear to be fair. England’s odds to win to nil are 8/13.
The Czechs did well to qualify for Euro 2016, winning seven of their 10 games in a group that contained the Netherlands, Turkey and Iceland, but they failed to qualify for the World Cup, finishing third in their group behind Germany and Northern Ireland.
The visitors may be in a little bit of a rebuilding mode, following their 5-1 thumping by Russia in a friendly in September, during a Nations League campaign that brought two wins over Slovakia and two disappointing defeats to Ukraine.
There may be some who therefore believe England can win both halves at odds of 17/10, but for those who think that with some players out of form for their clubs in the Premier League, such as the Tottenham trio of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier, the potential for a rare flat England performance increases.
As such, the odds of 11/5 for the Czech Republic to either win or draw this game on the Double Chance market might appear appetising.
