England wrap up the group stages of Euro 2021 with a match at Wembley against the Czech Republic, seeking to reach the knockout rounds for the third consecutive Euro’s.
These two countries faced each other in qualifying for this tournament. England won comfortably at Wembley 5-0, but were beaten 2-1 on their visit to Prague. Gareth Southgate’s men were thoroughly outplayed in that match, losing 2-1 to a late winner from Zdeněk Ondrášek and registering just 4 shots on target to the Czech’s 8. That defeat was England’s first defeat in a qualifier for a major tournament in 10 years.
England have only faced the Czech’s twice before those matches in 2019, drawing in a friendly in 2008 and winning a friendly in 1998.
Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992, the Czech Republic have been present at every European Championship, finishing as runners-up in 1996 and in third place in 2004.
Czech Republic vs England: Kick-off time
 |
| Photo: Liveonsoccer |
England’s group stage matches will wrap up on Tuesday, June 22. It will start at 8pm BTS.
Czech Republic vs England: Team News
Trent Alexander-Arnold was one of four specialist right backs selected in England’s final 26-man squad for the European Championship, while Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson were included after fitness concerns.
The seven players cut from the provisional 33-man squad named last week by England coach Gareth Southgate were strikers Mason Greenwood and Ollie Watkins, midfielders James Ward-Prowse and Jesse Lingard, defenders Ben White and Ben Godfrey, and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Alexander-Arnold was left out of the England squad for games in March but finished the Premier League season strongly and was picked in the enlarged group along with three other right backs Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker and Reece James.
All four have been chosen, though there is a chance Alexander-Arnold might be deployed as a midfielder given his vision and eye for goal. He has never played as a midfielder in his senior Liverpool career, though, only in its youth team.
Maguire missed the final five games of Manchester United’s season because of an ankle ligament injury while Henderson, Liverpool’s captain, hasn’t played since February due to a groin problem.
Greenwood withdrew from contention “in order to recover fully from an underlying injury,” his club, Manchester United, said.
Czech Republic vs England: Match preview
 |
| Photo: Getty Images |
There is a feeling that this could be England’s best chance of winning a major competition, given that they will play all of their group games – and potentially the semi-final and final – on home soil at Wembley Stadium. This Czech Republic vs England preview will not lose sight of the fact that the Three Lions could lift the trophy after the situation in the world will be under control.
This is a quality squad of players that have been well marshalled by head coach Gareth Southgate, and after reaching the World Cup semi-final – and going deep into the Nations League – there is a sense they are knocking on the door of a huge win.
They have such attacking quality that they blasted 37 goals in qualifying, and the emergence of Jaden Sancho as a major force has been a fantastic bonus for Southgate. This young talent will link up with the likes of Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford in what is a forward line packed with pace and guile.
There are some question marks about them defensively, however, with the goalkeeper position still very much up for grabs and a clear absence of world-class defenders.
This is an area that the Czech Republic will have to exploit if they are to get anything from this game, and interestingly in their qualification campaign they scored two or more goals in five of their eight games – so there is some quality there.
Remember, the Czechs did beat England 2-1 in qualification, so there is evidence to suggest that they can compete, but the 0-5 defeat at Wembley is hard to ignore.
Czech Republic vs England: Predictions
 |
| Photo: Getty Images |
A lot will depend on the results from the earlier group games, but England will be looking at their tricky group and see this as their most winnable match. The Czech’s do have quality, with Patrick Schick, the 25-year-old Bayer Leverkusen striker, the primary threat. Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal have both been having outstanding seasons with West Ham, but England should have too much quality for them.
Predicted score England 2 Czech Republic 0
Czech Republic vs England: Betting tips and odds
Both of the qualification matches delivered goals, and when we consider England’s attacking prowess – and their apparent defensive weakness, wagers like Both Teams to Score should also factor in our Czech Republic vs England betting tips.Indeed, the pick of our selections has to be Over 2.5 Goals.
And then when we consider the 1-X-2 market, it really is difficult to see past England. They have the obvious benefit of playing on home soil, which will make a huge difference, but they also possess the quality to go all the way in the competition – let alone seeing off a functional but fairly ordinary Czech Republic outfit.
As such, England to win is the play here.
