England VS Czech Republic Match Prediction
2019-03-22
19:45:00
England
VS
Czech Republic
Our Prediction Tip
England will win this match.
2019-03-2219:45:00 England will win this match.
Since Slovakian independence from the Czech Republic, England have only played the latter twice. Both were friendlies, with England winning 2-0 in November 1998 and snatching a late 2-2 draw in 2008.
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Gareth Southgate has managed to restore national pride in England’s football team and with a young squad at his disposal there is a lot of excitement about the new era.
Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Marcus Rashford, Jordan Pickford and, of course, Jadon Sancho are all aged 25 or under – along with several team-mates.
The World Cup performance along last summer suggested this team could go on to achieve big things, but to back it up at the UEFA Nations League was just as important.
The 3-2 win in Spain was a reminder – and saw Sterling answer his critics with two overdue goals – while the 2-1 home win against Croatia sealed top spot and avenged their World Cup semi-final defeat to an extent too.
Now they start Euro 2020 qualifying against a Czech Republic side rebuilding themselves, but with little success to look back on now their own golden generation is long gone.
England have an excellent qualifying record in recent years and they will expect to kick off the latest campaign with a home win.
Sterling is in red-hot form at club level, while Harry Kane is back in the goals too, while Gareth Southgate has already built a solid defence too.
John Stones and Joe Gomez miss out, but England can turn to one of their World Cup stalwarts in Harry Maguire, while Michael Keane and James Tarkowski are pushing for more involvement too.
Where once lower and mid-table Premier League players failed to excite national fans, now there is a real sense Gareth Southgate can build a winning team from them when mixed with players like Kane and Sterling who are shining on Europe’s biggest stages.
Expectation is high around the England team again, but they should beat Czech Republic on home soil to kick off the new calendar year.
England are big favourites to beat the Czech Republic, with Bet365, Ladbrokes and Betway all offering 2/7 on a home win.
There has been just one goal in each of the Czech Republic’s last three matches, however, and betting against both teams to score will return 9/20 with Betfair and Paddy Power.
An England win to nil is a best price of 4/5 with Ladbrokes, while under 2.5 goals will also return 4/5.
Harry Kane remains England’s most obvious goal threat and is 3/4 with Ladbrokes and Betway to score at any time, while Raheem Sterling – in top form at club level – is 13/8 with Bet365, Ladbrokes and Betway.
England will want to kick off the new year with a win, after an extraordinary 2018, and they have the quality at both ends of the pitch to out-gun the Czech Republic.
Gareth Southgate has been hit by a number of injury withdrawals, including Luke Shaw and John Stones at the back, while Joe Gomez is yet to return to action for club or country either. Declan Rice has received his first call-up after switching nationality from Ireland, while Callum Hudson-Odoi has also been handed his maiden call-up, just days after being selected for the England Under-21s for the first time. James Ward-Prowse is another to have been added to the squad since Southgate named his initial selection.
Harry Kane – The England captain has 20 goals in 35 international appearances and has returned from injury to immediately refind his goalscoring touch with Spurs.
Raheem Sterling – Much-maligned at international level, but he scored twice against Spain in October and has been in superb form for Manchester City too.
Jadon Sancho – The 18-year-old’s performances for Borussia Dortmund have seen him elevated to the senior England squad and he is undoubtedly one of the country’s brightest talents.
England are unbeaten in their last five matches and have won their last three in a row – including the victories against Spain and Croatia that earned them top spot in their UEFA Nations League group. Raheem Sterling scored twice and Marcus Rashford netted the other in an extraordinary first half in Seville, before England held on for a 3-2 win against the Spanish. Then, late goals from Jesse Lingard and Harry Kane helped England come from behind to beat Croatia 2-1 and seal top spot at Wembley – having beaten the USA 3-0 in a friendly a few days earlier too.
The Czec Republic have named an 18-man squad for the match against England, with two uncapped players – Slavia Prague duo Ondrej Kudela and Alex Kral – among the six new additions (four from Slavia in total) from November’s squad. Long-term absentee Michael Krmencik is one of the most notable players missing, while Vladimir Darida, Daniel Pudil and Ladislav Krejci also miss out.
Patrik Schick – Roma striker scored the winner against Slovakia last time out – his fifth international goal in 14 appearances.
Theodor Gebre Selassie – One of the most experienced players in the Czech squad, the Werder Bremen defender will lead the Czech back line.
Matej Vydra – Could be up against a club team-mate in James Tarkowski, and as one of just two out-and-out attacking players in the squad he has a big role to play.
Czech Republic won both matches they played in November 1-0. They beat Poland in an away friendly, with Jakub Jankto scoring the only goal before Patrik Schick scored the winner against Slovakia to seal second place in their UEFA Nations League group. They were denied top spot by Ukraine who beat them twice, most recently in October – a match which also finished 1-0.
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