Kosovo v England: Three Lions to conclude qualifying campaign in style

It’s fair to say that I miscalculated quite how easily England would beat Montenegro on Thursday night, as Gareth Southgate’s side dismantled their opponents in ruthless fashion.

Montenegro may have been poor but it was an England display full of skill and speed, with some excellent finishing also evident. The victory ensures that England will be at Euro 2020 and Kosovo’s defeat to Czech Republic meaning this game is effectively a dead rubber (although Kosovo can still qualify through the Nations League).

If the home side had more riding on the game, I may have found an alternative angle but with motivation a factor to ignore, I will repeat the bet I made before the game at St Mary’s: England to win and Both Teams To Score, which is available at 2/1 with 888.

To date in this group, BTTS has landed in six of Kosovo’s seven matches and while England have kept four clean sheets, two of those came against the group’s whipping boys Bulgaria and three of the four came at home. They conceded two against Czech Republic, Montenegro found the net when they were at home and Kosovo actually managed three goals themselves when playing at Southampton.

Even in Thursday’s simple victory, England allowed their opponents to create chances, including a one on one, and I still believe that they are suspect defensively.

I expect England to win but struggle to see them keeping a clean sheet so this is the angle I like.