1,478/1 Cheltenham Festival Day 2 Lucky 15 Tips & Predictions

I’d feel confident in backing any of England’s front four for a goal contribution here after their brilliant display against Croatia last time out in which Gordon, Kane, Bellingham and Saka all pitched in.

Saka had more touches than any other England player in the opposition box (11) in that 7-0 thrashing, also taking the joint most shots (5) which led to two goals for the Arsenal winger. He also completed four passes into the final third, and took two of England’s corners - offering solid supporting stats to his headline numbers.

Saka has started the season positively more widely too, netting three goals across five starts in the Premier League. He was impressive when given an opportunity in the World Cup too - registering six goal contributions across just three starts, netting a hat trick in the third placed playoff game against France.

Jiri Slama is set to line up at left back for Czechia here, giving him a really difficult assignment against Bukayo Saka and possibly Trent Alexander-Arnold.

I think it’s clear that England’s build up and approach play is much better down the right hand side of the pitch than it is down the left. This is the natural consequence of England trying to find the best option on the left hand side, while Saka has long been the first choice right winger.

Saka has won two fouls in the Nations League so far, which isn’t reflective of how good he is when it comes to winning fouls. He’s won 15 fouls across his five starts in the Premier League (3.23 per 90), also winning nine fouls across just 357 minutes of action during the World Cup (2.27 per 90). 

Slama has committed three fouls across his three Nations League games so far and could have been in line for a caution against Spain last time out had Yamal lasted the entire 90 minutes. He’s collected one yellow card across his four starts domestically this season.

Pavel Sulc looked really bright and acted as Czechia’s main threat in his brief cameo before being sent off against England last week.

Sulc managed two shots from just six touches in the 23 minutes he stayed on the pitch before being sent off, showing that he should be quite willing to get shots away here now that he’s served his suspension.

Sulc has started the season pretty well for Lyon too, registering three assists across just three starts for his club side. He’s found the target twice across these games, working out to an average of 0.70 shots on target per 90.

There aren’t many Czechia players that I think can cause England issues, but Sulc stands out as someone that could look to test the England keeper given how quickly he took a few efforts against the Three Lions last week. 

Furthermore, Sulc netted 11 goals across just 17 starts for Lyon in Ligue 1 last season - notably averaging 1.03 shots on target per 90.