Group B is the second group to conclude at the FIFA World Cup and one of the last two matches in the section is a ‘Battle of Britain’ as England look to seal their place in the knockout stage when they go up against Wales.
Wales are in a grave position in the tournament. They have to win and hope the other game is a draw or win by four goals if there is a positive result in the other game. A draw sends England through and a win will see them win the group.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the BBC 1 channel in the UK. This one has a complete build-up which begins at 6pm. Kick off comes along at 7pm.
Wales
This has been a tournament to forget for Wales so far. If we are getting straight to the point they haven’t shown up in it to date and barring something quite extraordinary they are going to pay the price for it. The bare minimum they will be wanting here is a decent performance in which they portray the team we’ve seen them be in getting here but the big problem is they continue to carry two Welsh legends who sadly aren’t getting the job done at this level any more.
Wales have been ordinary defensively in this tournament which is something of a surprise and their attack hasn’t really got going. They had a better second 45 minutes in their opening match against USA after a pathetic first period and just weren’t at the races at all in their defeat to Iran. The problem in both matches is they have tired quite badly towards the end, potentially a legacy of carrying two men around with them in both games.
England
We have seen the good and the bad of England in this tournament. They were very very good in their first match when they thrashed an Iran side who more than franked the form in the second set of matches but then we saw the England that showed up for the majority of the Nations League in the second game when they seemed to show little to no interest in beating USA just so long as they didn’t get beat.
That approach was understandable in terms of the tournament but it frustrated their fans because they have a squad that is so much better than that and also it was a golden opportunity to get the group won and rest players up for the knockout stages of the competition. We saw this at the Euros last year and after a mundane performance against Scotland they improved a lot for the next game and it would be a surprise if we don’t see a much better display from them here.
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Team News
Wales will be without the man who has started their opening two matches between the sticks in Wayne Hennessey after his red card against Iran. Danny Ward will come in for him. It remains to be seen whether Rob Page will sit Aaron Ramsey or Gareth Bale and bring them off the bench.
England are expected to make changes for this match with Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker likely to come into the team. After all the noise about Phil Foden not playing against USA we can expect him to be included as well.
Betting
I think this one is perfectly set up for England to entertain. I think they were going to do that anyway because nobody would have liked the grief they got after a negative display in the last game and without wishing to sound harsh England are just a much better team than Wales with much better players. England have an attack made up of the top four in the Premier League while two members of the Welsh defence are playing out of position and another isn’t a regular for his club.
Wales have to win the game and if they hear of a team being ahead in the other one they have to win by four so they have to get attacking players on the pitch and take risks which plays right into the hands of England. The question is how to get the most value out of the situation and I’ll take the 6/4 that England score in both halves. England are expected to make changes for this match so they will have players who will be looking to prove themselves and that means that when the Welsh players tire, which they have done in both matches so far as they carry two men around with them, then England will have class acts coming off the bench to take advantage. Nobody has said it but England were not impressed with Wales celebrating when England were knocked out of the Euros six years ago. I expect England to perform here and they have perfect dance partners to score in each half against.
Tips
Back England to score in both halves for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with William Hill
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