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England are back in action on Monday night as their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign continues. The Three Lions take on North Macedonia at Old Trafford and will be expected to add yet another three points to their tally. The match gets underway at 7:45pm.
England
England made the perfect start to their qualifying campaign with consecutive victories over Italy and Ukraine and having already secured success in arguably their toughest assignment (away vs Italy in Naples), they should be feeling confident of remaining unbeaten in their qualifying group.
Match has ended
At the time of writing, we don’t know the result of England’s away trip to Malta, however, Gareth Southgate are expected to make light work of their opponents on Friday evening. This is expected to be slightly tougher, yet they should be able to take advantage of playing on home turf.
With the Champions League having concluded less than two weeks ago, there are a number of questions surrounding the availability and fitness of Manchester City players. Kyle Walker may be rested for this and although John Stones is a guaranteed starter, he’s been playing in a different role for his club. It’ll be interesting to see if Southgate follows Pep’s blueprint here.
There are a number of players who have been selected off the back of impressive seasons and Eberechi Eze may be given the chance to shine, although Southgate may prefer to start the Crystal Palace man in the game against Malta.
Callum Wilson’s fantastic end of the season form may also have pushed him firmly into contention for this game.
North Macedonia
North Macedonia won their last qualifying match, however, they were handed a fairly easy start to their campaign. Having only edged past Malta and having narrowly beaten Faroe Islands in an international friendly, fans may be a little concerned about the lack of tricky tests heading into this tougher run of games which includes Ukraine and England.
Against the lesser lights, North Macedonia are extremely reliable and the Lynxes swatted aside Latvia, Slovenia, Kosovo and Israel during their qualifying campaign for the previous European Championships. Nevertheless, they weren’t particularly good against both Georgia and Bulgaria at the end of 2022 in the Nations League.
When taking on better sides at Euro 2020, North Macedonia were very entertaining to watch, yet they conceded too many sloppy goals.
The visitors will be hindered the absence of key players including Darko Churlinov, who was recently hospitalised. Valon Etehmi has also withdrawn from the squad whereas Bojan Miovski is unavailable for selection too.
Head to Head
It’s been a while since these two sides last met. The last game between these two sides ended goalless in 2006 during the Euro qualifiers. Prior to that, the reverse fixture saw England edge out their opponents courtesy of a Peter Crouch strike.
The pair were also drawn in the same Euro 2004 qualifying group with the first meeting ending 2-2 before David Beckham and Wayne Rooney struck to earn the Three Lions a crucial 2-1 victory.
Key Betting Stats (prior to Friday’s game vs Malta)
- England won seven of their eight qualifiers en-route to Euro 2020.
- 10 of England’s last 11 Euro qualifiers have featured three or more goals
- Harry Kane has scored in each of his last eight European qualifiers
- Collectively
- Each of England’s last four goals have come in the first half. They failed to score after the break against both Italy and Ukraine
- Five of North Macedonia’s last six European qualifiers have been decided by a single goal
- Each of North Macedonia’s last seven goals in Euro qualifiers have been scored by different players.
Match Prediction
This will be significantly tougher for England than their Friday evening clash with Malta. They will find themselves in a battle, however, they should be able to emerge with all three points. North Macedonia have a few key players missing and they weren’t at their best against easier opposition during the previous international break. England should prevail.
Winning Combo
England to Win, England to be winning at HT, Under 3.5 Goals
Odds – 6/4 with Bet365 Bet Builder
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