England vs Scotland
England vs Scotland takes place on Friday June 18 at Wembley Stadium in one of the most anticipated Euro2020 games. England won their first group game thanks to a Raheem Sterling goal against Croatia, while Scotland were beaten thanks to a brace from Patrick Schick including a lob from the halfway line. Read on for more analysis, match predictions and betting tips.
Form
England made hard work of their win against Croatia, with talismanic striker Harry Kane being uncharacteristically quiet. Coach Gareth Southgate attracted controversy for picking Atletico Madrid right back Kieran Trippier as left-back while leaving Luke Shaw completely out of the squad, and for preferring Sterling who had been out of sorts of late for Manchester City in a forward role. Both picks paid off and it’s probably Southgate will ignore the press and shuffle his pack again for the match against the Auld Enemy.
Steve Clarke also made some interesting choices for his Scotland side in the first game and it didn’t really pay off. Up front Scotland looked toothless while Derby keeper David Marshall almost certainly should have done better with the lob from Schick. It was Scotland’s first defeat at Hampden since losing 4-0 to Belgium in 2019, and leaves them needing a result at Wembley if they are to progress.
Injuries
Although England got through their game without any injuries, there are a couple of injuries in the squad. Manchester centre-back Harry Maguire is doubtful for all three group games while Luke Shaw is managing a wrist injury although it wasn’t the reason he missed out against Croatia. The question will be if Southgate rotates his squad to bring in the creativity of Jack Grealish instead of the pace of Raheem Sterling.
Kieran Tierney missed out the first group game due to injury and there is a question mark over whether he will be fit enough to play against England. Liverpool’s Andy Robertson played on the left against the Czech Republic and created five chances for Scotland, all of which went begging. He will be hoping for better from his forwards int his game.
Match Prediction
England are huge favourites for this game at 1.30, which reflects the difference in quality between these two teams. However, these are the kinds of games where form goes somewhat out of the window as so much pressure will be on both sides to win. The goals market is tight too, with both over and under 2.5 goals around 1.90. The value betting tips might be in the handicaps with Scotland +1 at a huge 3.30. In 1996 the match between these two teams turned on a missed penalty by Gary McAllister followed by a moment of brilliance from England’s Paul Gascoigne. Phil Foden has the hair for it; will this be his moment?
