Tunisia VS England Match Prediction

Tunisia and England met in their opening fixture of the 1998 World Cup, which England won thanks to goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes, but they have not played each other since. Their only other meeting was a friendly in 1990, which was drawn 1-1.

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Tunisia vs England Stats

 England are unbeaten in their last ten games, during which they have conceded just three goals

 England have never lost against African opposition, including a previous World Cup group stage win against Tunisia in 1998

 Tunisia won their first ever World Cup match in 1978, but have failed to win another in the 11 games since

 Tunisia have not beaten European opposition since a 3-0 win against Belarus in a friendly in 2006

Tunisia vs England Betting Tips

Tunisia may be the top-ranked African team at the World Cup, but England have never lost to African opposition so should go into their opening fixture with confidence.

A ten-match unbeaten run, including seven clean sheets, has helped raise expectations after two disappointments at the last two major international tournaments.

Gareth Southgate has found a new system and has reaped the rewards of that, with wins in both World Cup warm-up matches putting England in a good place ahead of the World Cup.

Tunisia, by contrast, are without star striker Youssef Msakni and failed to win any of their three World Cup warm-up matches – including a defeat to Spain and draws with Portugal and Turkey which extended their winless run against European opponents.

Makeshift striker Wahbi Khazri is also an injury doubt, which leaves Tunisia short of options up front and England’s good defensive record should continue as a result.

The biggest criticism of Gareth Southgate’s England has been their lack of cutting edge up front, but with Harry Kane fit and firing up front they are at full strength in that regard. The much-maligned Raheem Sterling also enjoyed a brilliant goalscoring season with Manchester City, while Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck and Jamie Vardy have all scored in recent friendlies.
England know nothing else but a win will do if they want to top Group G ahead of Belgium, and they should achieve exactly that – just as they did in their opening game at France ’98.

Tunisia vs England Recommended bets with odds

England are odds-on favourites to beat Tunisia in their opening World Cup fixture, with Bet365, Betfair, Ladbrokes and Betway all offering 4/9 on an English win.

Having kept clean sheets in seven of their last ten matches, meanwhile, an England win to nil improves those odds to evens with Betway, Bet365 and Ladbrokes. You can back against both teams to score at 4/7 with Betfair.

England have hardly been prolific up front either, however – scoring two apiece in their last two games, and just four in their previous six games before that. As a result, under 2.5 goals being scored at 9/13 with 10Bet looks tempting.

Captain Harry Kane leads the line for England and is 7/8 with 888sport to score at any time. Raheem Sterling is suffering a goal drought at international level, but the Manchester City man scored plenty at club level this season and it would be a huge morale boost if he could net - returning 37/19 with 888sport.

Tunisia vs England Top three bets

1) England to win to nil at evens with Betfair
2) Total goals = under 2.5 at 9/13 with 10bet
3) Harry Kane to score at any time at 7/8 with 888sports

Tunisia vs England Prediction

England have been solid defensively and have enough about them up front to ensure they kick off their 2018 World Cup campaign with a win.

Correct score prediction: Tunisia 0-2 England

Correct score best odds: 51/10 (888sports)

Tunisia Team News

Tunisia appear to have settled on their line-up for their opening World Cup fixture, but while the personnel remains the same they have experimented with different formations in their warm-up matches. Last time out, against Spain, they switched to 4-5-1 with Ellyes Skhiri in central midfield, wing-backs Dylan Bronn and Ali Maaloul dropping to conventional full-back positions and Fakhereedine Ben Youssef and Anice Badri playing more as wide midfielders than attacking wingers. Given it took a late goal from the former World Cup champions to beat them, this could be the system Nabil Maaloul opts for against England too. Vice-captain Wahbi Khazri missed both matches with a thigh injury, which could cost him his place in the team for the opening fixture too.

Tunisia Key Players

Wahbi Khazri, the in-form vice-captain, has more goals than any other player in the Tunisian squad but has not featured in the pre-tournament warm-up matches. Defensively, Syam Ben Youssef and Yassine Meriah will be the men tasked with keeping England’s forwards under wraps. Anice Badri scored in both of Tunisia’s first two warm-up matches, meanwhile.

Tunisia Team Form

Tunisia Football team won both of their friendlies in March, at home to Iran and in France against Costa Rica – Wahbi Khazri’s 12th international goal sealing victory in the latter. Their World Cup warm-up matches have then seen them come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Portugal – Anice Badri and Fakhreddine Ben Youssef scoring – before they conceded a late equaliser to draw 2-2 with Turkey despite another Badri goal and one from Ferjani Sassi. Last time out, another late goal cost them in a 1-0 defeat to Spain.

Tunisia Predicted Starting Line up

Expected Line: 4-5-1

England Team News

Marcus Rashford looked to have overtaken Raheem Sterling in the race to partner Harry Kane in England’s opening goal, with the Manchester United man impressing in the win against Costa Rica, but he is suffering with a minor knee injury. Jordan Pickford has been handed the number one jersey and is set to line up in goal ahead of Jack Butland and Nick Pope. Gareth Southgate has also stated he is only likely to play one of his two defensive midfielders - Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson - which opens up the possibility of Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard playing together behind the front two.

England Key Players

Captain Harry Kane’s goal in the warm-up match against Nigeria was his 13th for England and fifth since the start of the 2017/18 season, despite missing matches through injury. He looks likely to be partnered by Manchester City’s title-winning Raheem Sterling - playing on the back of his most successful goalscoring season.

England Team Form

England are unbeaten in ten matches, including goalless draws at Wembley with Germany and Brazil, a 1-0 win in the Netherlands thanks to Jesse Lingard’s goal, a 1-1 draw with Italy and, most recently, their warm-up wins against Nigeria and Costa Rica. At Wembley against the former, Gary Cahill and Harry Kane scored in a 2-1 England win, while Marcus Rashford and Danny Welbeck were the goalscorers as England team beat Costa Rica at Elland Road last time out.

England Predicted Starting Line up

Expected Line up: 3-1-4-2

England have landed a favourable draw in the group stage of the World Cup, unlike four years ago when they were eliminated at this stage by defeats to Italy and Uruguay. Having never lost to African opposition, and heading to the World Cup on the back of a ten-match unbeaten run in which they have only conceded three goals, it is easy to see why England are confident of a good start to their 2018 campaign.

England have never lost an international match against African opposition.