Football Tips

There has been some tension between Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham since the German coach took over as head coach of the Three Lions, with this tension reaching boiling point during the last international camp, as Jude Bellingham was left out of the squad. He didn’t start England’s 2-0 win over Serbia last time out, with Morgan Rogers once again starting in the role just behind Harry Kane. 

This will naturally irk a player of Bellingham’s talent, being one of England’s most important players over the last calendar year, particularly with his performances in the European Championships. He should be motivated to earn his spot in the starting eleven back with competition coming from all angles, after Tuchel confirmed that Foden, Bellingham and Kane can’t play in the same starting eleven to maintain the necessary balance. 

Bellingham has had 2+ shots in three of his four appearances in the World Cup Qualifiers so far, with the exception of his 25 minute cameo against Serbia last time out, in which he still managed to get one shot away. He’s had 13 shots in total across his four appearances in qualifying (4.32 per 90), which is a promising record.

Bellingham has also had 17 shots across his eight appearances in LaLiga for Real Madrid this season (3.25 per 90). These shot numbers are comparable with the numbers that Bellingham posted during the 23/24 season for Madrid, which was a campaign that saw him score 23 goals. Bellingham had three shots when these sides clashed at Wembley, with England having 12 shots overall in the game.

Konsa was hauled down twice in England’s 2-0 win over Serbia last time out, which represented the 13th time that Konsa has been fouled across his seven appearances at the World Cup Qualifiers (2.11 per 90). He should continue in a starting role here, with Marc Guehi returning to Crystal Palace due to a small injury he picked up during the camp. 

Konsa’s ability to win fouls is largely informed by how comfortable he is on the ball. He is a favourite of Unai Emery for this reason, with Konsa a key cog in Aston Villa’s build up play. Konsa has won 12 fouls across his 10 Premier League appearances this season (1.23 per 90), so winning fouls is a strong aspect of his game.

Konsa’s main opponent here is likely to be Rey Manaj, who has committed nine fouls across his six appearances in the World Cup Qualifiers (1.71 per 90). England are likely to dominate the ball and force the attacking players of Albania to chase after lost causes, or be slightly too aggressive in their press. Konsa was fouled three times, more than any other player, in England’s 2-0 win over Albania at Wembley back at the start of the qualifying campaign.

The meeting between these sides at Wembley produced exactly two goals, as England ran out 2-0 winners. England dictated proceedings on that occasion, and are expected to do the same here. England registered an xG of 1.48 in that game, which is a tally they should be able to improve on in their final qualifying match. 

England have netted 20 goals across their seven qualifying matches (2.85 per game) and are yet to concede, in a group which also contains Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra. England have seen 2+ goals in six of these matches, with the exception of their 1-0 win over Andorra. That contest should have produced more goals, with England registering an xG of 4.00 from 20 shots.

Albania are the second top scorers in the group, with seven goals across their seven matches. They’ve netted four goals across their three home matches, without conceding, but are likely to be dragged into a high scoring affair by an England side that have shown real promise in the final third under Tuchel, particularly in recent camps, with England netting 17 goals across their last five matches. 

England registered another comfortable victory as they ran out 2-0 winners over Serbia at Wembley last time out, to make it seven wins from seven in qualifying for Tuchel. England have scored 20 goals across these matches, without conceding, showing how dominant they have been in their bid to reach the World Cup next summer.

They travel to take on an Albania side that they beat 2-0 at Wembley when the sides met back in March, with England being in control throughout the contest. Albania only had three shots in that game, with none of these attempts finding the target, resulting in a lowly xG of 0.06. They also only had 26% of the ball, it will be difficult for Albania to establish a foothold in this contest.

England have been just as comfortable on the road as they have been at Wembley during this qualifying campaign. They’ve won all three of their away matches, netting 11 goals in the process and conceding none. This game doesn’t mean an awful lot to Albania, they have a four point gap to Serbia heading into the final qualifying match, so there won’t be a heavy cry for Albania to win the game for qualifying reasons.

Portugal fell to a surprise 2-0 defeat against Ireland last time out which was a defeat that was largely fuelled by a red card shown to Ronaldo midway through the second half. Portugal still offered a significant attacking threat in that encounter with 27 shots and an xG of 1.60.

This is an ideal opportunity for Portugal to return to winning ways after losing their first match of the qualifying campaign - it’s Portugal’s first defeat in some time in the qualifiers with Roberto Martinez’s side going unbeaten during the qualifying campaign for the European Championship. 

Portugal beat Armenia 5-0 when the sides clashed in September, Portugal racked up one of the most impressive xG figures I’ve seen in recent months with an expected goal tally of 6.34 from their 24 shots.

Three of Portugal’s five matches during qualifying have seen 3+ goals, the two games which didn’t produce this goal tally were against Ireland who have proven to be awkward opponents for Portugal during this qualifying campaign. Armenia have managed to keep the scoreline down in their matches against Hungary and Ireland, but will struggle to do so here with the attacking talent that Portugal possess. 

England registered another comfortable victory in qualifying as they ran out 2-0 winners over Serbia at Wembley to make it seven wins from seven in qualifying for Thomas Tuchel and the Three Lions. England have scored 20 goals across these matches, without conceding, showing how dominant they have been in their bid to reach the World Cup next summer.

They travel to take on an Albania side that they beat 2-0 at Wembley when the sides met back in March with England being in control throughout the contest. Albania only had three shots in that game, with none of these attempts finding the target resulting in a measly xG of 0.06. They also only had 26% of the ball so we can anticipate that it will be difficult for Albania to establish a foothold in this contest.

England have been just as comfortable on the road as they have been at Wembley during this qualifying campaign. They’ve won all three of their away matches, netting 11 goals in the process and conceding zero. This game doesn’t mean an awful lot to Albania, they have a four point gap to Serbia heading into the final qualifying match so there won’t be a heavy cry for Albania to win the game for qualifying reasons. 

Serbia don’t have much to fight for here after a disappointing qualifying campaign which has seen them lose out on second place in the group to Albania who now have a four point lead on Serbia with just one qualifying match remaining.

Serbia will still want to end their qualifying campaign on a positive note and restore a bit of pride as Serbia were expected to emerge from this group, just behind England, with the quality they have in the squad. They face a Latvia side that have conceded 13 goals across their seven qualifying matches (1.85 per game) which is the second highest goal conceded tally in this qualifying group.

Serbia ran out 1-0 winners in the meeting between these sides back in September which took place in Riga. Latvia also don’t have anything to play for here which can lead to an open affair with neither team shackled by the pressure of trying to qualify from this group with England and Albania confirmed as the top two sides. 

This is a crucial meeting between the top two sides in group I with only three points between them heading into this final encounter. Neither are in jeopardy of dropping out of the top two in this group with Israel sitting nine points behind Italy, but topping the group would save one of these nations having to jump through extra hoops to qualify for the World Cup next summer.

Norway have won all seven of their matches in this qualifying group and look poised to qualify for a major tournament after missing out on the last few due to poor qualifying campaigns. They’ve scored 33 goals across these seven matches, which is the most of any side in the European qualification process. 

Italy have recovered after a slow start to qualifying, including losing 3-0 to Norway which spelled the end of Luciano Spalleti’s time in charge of the national side. He’s been replaced by Gattuso who has led the side to six wins from their remaining matches in this group. 

Italy have netted 20 goals across their seven qualifying matches (2.85 per game), but they’ve also conceded eight goals across these games which is a metric that could offer confidence to Norway as they eye up their first major tournament in a few years.