Czech Republic (FIFA Ranking - 40th) v England (4th), Tues 22nd June 20:00

Friday night didn’t prove to be the one England fans were hoping for, with their oldest international rivalry against Scotland ending in a goalless draw. That leaves them level on points with the Czech Republic but behind on goal difference as we head into this group decider.

Not many would have thought Jaroslav Silhavy’s men would be top of Group D heading into the final round of matches. A win over Scotland and a draw with World Cup runners-up Croatia has put them in this advantageous position as all the permutations are worked out for the teams. Avoiding defeat in this next encounter would see them through to the last-16 at the Euros for the first time since 2012, but should they fail to win and Scotland end up beating the Croatians, they’ll secure a top two spot still.

The only way England can’t qualify for the knockouts now is if they lose to the Czech Republic and the Scots can beat Croatia by enough goals to surpass their goal difference, but even after that, their current four points could be enough to qualify as one of the best third placed sides. The Three Lions should have enough about themselves to get the job done this Tuesday, they’ve conceded just one goal now for over 13 hours of football following a mistake from John Stones back in March, and we’d be surprised if the visitors took the game to them. One concern would be their current output, they’ve scored a maximum of just one goal in all their last four outings, winning 1-0 in three of those, but on a current run of seven wins from their last eight unbeaten outings, it’s no surprise to see them as favourites.

The Czech’s may have had a good start to this competition but they’ve now lost four of their last five trips to opposition when excluding minnows outside the top 100 in the FIFA World Rankings. Furthermore, they lost to nil in each of those defeats – Scotland (1-0), Germany (1-0), Wales (1-0) & Italy (4-0). That does very much point to a home win in this one, especially when you consider the gap in quality between the two sides.

Gareth Southgate looks set to start Harry Kane in this group decider and for all the recent questioning he’s come under, we think he’ll silence his critics. It goes without saying how impressive he was for Spurs this term, picking up the Golden Boot and Playmaker award, while considering he’s had a hand in half of England’s six goals when he’s featured for the national side this year, the penalty taker looks the value option to break the deadlock.

England Win to Nil @ 2.35
0.5 Pts: Harry Kane First Goalscorer @ 4.5
0.25 Pts: England 1-0 @ 6.6