World Cup
England vs Iran prediction
21 NOV @ 13:00
England begin their 2022 World Cup campaign on Monday lunchtime when they face Iran in the opening match of Group B.
Gareth Southgate’s side head into the tournament winless in their last six matches but have arguably been offered the easiest tie of the group to help them get off to a winning start.
The Three Lions have a wealth of attacking talent to choose from in what is expected to be a 4-3-3 formation. Issues will be in defence in this tournament with Harry Maguire hardly playing for Manchester United this season, and neither he and John Stones ever being the best of defenders in the Premier League.
But a clean sheet should be on hand to Jordan Pickford and co versus an Iran side that may see little of the ball in the opposition half. They do have FC Porto striker Mehdi Taremi to look for thought.
For some reason, the English media and pundits are building this up to be a tough opening match. Apparently Iran’s FIFA ranking of 20 means something. It’s all well and good beating Iraq and UAE 1-0 in qualifying, but you’re facing the Euro 2021 runners-up on the big stage here.
I honestly don’t know why England thrashing Iran hasn’t been the talk in the build up to this match, but I have a scoreline of 3-0 or 4-0 in my head for this one.
Alireza Beiranvand is their number one goalkeeper and he plays in his home league, and whilst Iranian club teams do have three AFC Champions League successes, the most recent of these was in 1993. The same can be said of a number of outfield players, whilst many others play in Europe’s lesser leagues. There’s a gulf in difference between these two.
Best bet: England HT/FT is 11/10 with BetFred