England tipped to dispatch Albania and secure World Cup qualification
England vs Albania - 12/11/2021
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England welcome Albania to Wembley on Friday night as we approach the business end of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The Three Lions sit top of Group I – three points clear of second-place Poland and five points ahead of third-place Albania.
Albania must win to keep their qualification hopes alive, while England will book their ticket to Qatar with victory on Friday.
Gareth Southgate’s side are unbeaten in WCQ Group I, having secured six wins and two draws from their eight outings.
They have netted a whopping 24 goals this campaign (three goals per game) and have only conceded on three occasions.
When you look at the bigger picture, England have lost just one of their previous 18 games across all competitions – recording 14 wins and three draws along the way.
Their only defeat in that time came against Italy in the Euro 2020 final back in July, which was a dramatic penalty shootout loss.
The Three Lions have scored at least one goal in each of their past ten games in all competitions, so they shouldn’t struggle to hit the target against Albania.
Impressively, Albania have won five of their World Cup qualifiers, although three defeats have damaged their chances of reaching next year’s tournament.
They boast the second-best defensive record in Group I, having conceded just seven goals. However, they have only managed to score 11 in reply.
The Albanians have won three of their previous four qualifiers but were beaten 1-0 by Poland last time out.
That said, they have only lost four of their previous 15 encounters across all competitions, meaning England cannot take them lightly.
Head-to-head: England have won all five meetings between the teams over the years, claiming a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in March.
The Three Lions have scored 14 goals against Albania (2.8 goals per game) and have conceded just once, keeping four clean sheets along the way.
Team news: Southgate has recalled Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham to the England squad, although Manchester United duo Jadson Sancho and Jesse Lingard have been left out.
Southampton’s Armando Broja has been called up by Albania after impressing on loan from Chelsea this season.
Given the ease with which England has cruised through Group I unbeaten, Albania shouldn’t pose much of a threat to the home side on Friday.
Forbet predicts that England will score over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet en route to dispatching the Albanians.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
WCQ
423226
1
2 - 0
2.20
1.14
1.14
8.00
19.00
1
-1
-1
5 - 0(5 - 0)
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