Czechia v England: Nations League predictions, best bets and odds

Richard Trenchard

If the defeat against Spain was a useful barometer of where England are at right now, Tuesday’s clash with Czechia in Prague has a much more immediate goal – three points to put towards their Nations League ambitions. Flashscore betting analyst Richard Trenchard looks at whether Thomas Tuchel’s men will achieve just that…

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The games are coming thick and fast in the UEFA Nations League, with two more contests for these sides to play early in October.

Squad rotation and managing workload will be vital attributes over the next fortnight or so, with England blessed with more strength in depth and quality than their hosts on Tuesday.

Will that ultimately prove to be the decisive factor when they travel to take on Czechia?

Czechia v England Tips

England -0.75 Handicap @ 8/15 (Bet365)

Match Goals Range: 1-3 @ 8/15 (Bet365)

England to Score 2+ @ 1/2 (Bet365)

Odds courtesy of Bet365. Correct at the time of publication and subject to change.

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Expect Class to Show

Even with rotation likely, England boss Tuchel has a smorgasbord of attacking talents to call upon – Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Jude Bellingham, Morgan Gibbs-White and so on.

The German was criticised for his tactical naivety at the World Cup, and against Spain to some extent, but the bottom line is that the Three Lions were barely five minutes from reaching the World Cup final – an outcome that, pre-tournament, seemed somewhat fanciful.

Can we talk with the same positivity about Czechia? They needed the play-off path to qualify for the World Cup, beating both the Republic of Ireland and Denmark on penalties, and looked off the pace at the tournament.

Just one point taken from a group featuring Mexico, South Korea and South Africa was a poor return.

Patrick Schick, who scored a crucial goal in that play-off win over Ireland and finished as their top goalscorer during the qualifying campaign, has now retired – as has the 80-cap Vladimir Darida.

In their 1-2 defeat against Croatia on Saturday, the Czechs had just eight touches of the ball in their opponents’ box – that does not bode well.

Everything points towards an England victory in this game… famous last words, as Three Lions fans can attest.

Tip: England -0.75 Handicap @ 8/15 (Bet365)

Explanation: If England win by two goals, so does our bet. If England win by one goal, we get a ‘half win’. If the game ends in a draw or an England defeat, our bet loses.

Not a Classic

In their World Cup qualification games, Schick (retired) scored four times, and Tomas Soucek (injured) netted twice.

That’s 33% of their goal tally missing on Tuesday, and it has to be said Czechia looked particularly toothless in attack at the World Cup as well.

So we don’t necessarily expect the home side to contribute to a classic in Prague, with the goalscoring onus very much on England.

The Three Lions are more than capable, only failing to score in one of their last 11 outings, while notching two or more in seven of those games.

Both Teams to Score is priced at 10/11 by bet365, which suggests that even they aren’t fearful of a goal glut. The Czechs will look to make life difficult for England… rather than playing their part in a banger of an encounter.

Tip: Match Goals Range: 1-3 @ 8/15 (Bet365)

Explanation: Our bet lands if there are one, two or three goals in the game.

England Expects

Even accounting for that last selection, we still have wiggle-room for England to score two or three goals in this contest.

And why not? After all, this is a free-flowing side, blasting six past France, four past Croatia and three against Mexico since June alone.

They scored twice against the world champions on Saturday, and that ought to have been three but for Kane’s missed penalty.

Czechia, meanwhile, have shipped two or more against Mexico, South Korea and Croatia in recent times; also suffering the indignity of losing 1-2 to the Faroe Islands in World Cup qualifying.

The Czechs will set up to shut England down, but the Three Lions are used to finding ways through or around deep blocks these days… hopefully, they’ll do so again on Tuesday.

Tip: England to Score 2+ @ 1/2 (Bet365)

Explanation: Our bet lands if England score two or more goals in the game.