Sinobo Stadium, Prague, Czech Republic.
Friday 11th October 2019.
Kick-off: 19:45 (UK time).
UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group A.
TV: ITV1, Česká televize Sport
Czech football
The beautiful city of Prague will play host to this group A clash as the Czech Republic take on England in a key Euro 2020 qualifier. Unfortunately for the Czechs, the state of their football team has been declining rapidly in the past 10 years and it is certainly the worst team in their history. In the past, the 1976 winners (as Czechoslovakia) had players like Pavel Nedvěd and Petr Čech make them dark horses for Euro Championships and World Cups, now they will be satisfied to just qualify for the final tournament. Luckily for them, they are placed in the weakest qualifying group and only Kosovo can realistically stop them from qualifying.
England squad
England meanwhile, will want to wrap up qualification as soon as possible and victory in Prague will almost certainly see them through to Euro 2020. The in-form Chelsea duo Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori have been called up to the England squad whilst Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli have been dropped. Boasting players like Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, England should ease to victory here, but it will be more difficult than the previous fixture at Wembley, where the Czechs were thrashed 5-0. England manager Gareth Southgate will settle for a one or two-goal win in what is the most difficult match of the group. England are currently 16/5 to win by 2 goals.
Cause for optimism?
The Czech Republic will be doing all they can to keep their qualification hopes alive and would be happy to get a draw against the group’s strongest team. Striker Patrik Schick will be their main hope of a result with 4 goals already in the qualifying campaign. You can back him at 3/1 to get a goal in the game. The Czech Republic have only played England three times since the split of Czechoslovakia and have not yet registered a win. You can get odds of 6/1 for a first Czech win.
Betting tip
In pure football terms, this is the highest quality tie of the group, England will have most of the possession in this game trying to break down the Czech defence. The Czechs will be looking to score on the counter and concentration levels in defence will have to be high if they are to secure a result and score goals in this game. It should be a much tighter game than the previous fixture and we’re tipping England to win by under 2.5 goals at 9/4.
Whatever you bet on, enjoy the game and don’t forget that our prices are subject to fluctuation. Please check the STS Sports Betting page for the latest odds.