England kick off their bid to qualify for 2022 FIFA World Cup in Group I as they welcome San Marino to Wembley.
With qualifiers against Albania and Poland to come within the next week, this match represents a huge chance for England to build early momentum.
Team News
England have no fresh withdrawals to report as Ollie Watkins look to make his senior debut, following his surprise call up in last week’s squad announcement.
Marcus Rashford (ankle) is a doubt but Bukayo Saka will sit out this match as he remains with Arsenal, receiving treatment on a hamstring injury although he could return for Sunday’s trip to Albania or next Wednesday’s home clash against Poland.
San Marino have no fresh injury concerns to report with a full squad in contention for the starting eleven.
Stat Attack
- England have won all four previous World Cup qualifiers against San Marino (W4), scoring 26 goals and conceding just once.
- San Marino have lost all three previous away World Cup qualifiers in England without scoring, conceding 16 goals across all three visits (L3).
- Just four of England’s last 12 goals have come from strikers (Dominic Calvert-Lewin x 2, Marcus Rashford & Danny Ings x 1).
- San Marino have failed to score in their last 13 away games across all competitions since losing 5-1 at Azerbaijan in September 2017.
- Four of England’s last five goals in World Cup Qualifiers have come from strikers (Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Jermain Defoe & Jamie Vardy – 1)
Prediction
With several regulars out injured and England’s superior quality over San Marino, Gareth Southgate should look to give less international experienced players like Conor Coady, Phil Foden and Ollie Watkins opportunities here and save his key players for Sunday’s trip to Albania.
San Marino meanwhile are winless in their last 104 matches across all competitions which says it all about how easy this task is on paper for England, yet the visitors have kept clean sheets in two of their last three matches.
I therefore feel that if England can find an early goal here, this will certainly be at least a five goal victory, but they should have enough to find the way no matter what defence is mounted by San Marino but squad rotation with three games in six days should keep this result slightly respectable.
Prediction: England 4-0 San Marino
Result: England 5-0 San Marino
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