Football betting tips: World Cup qualifying
*0.5pt Ezri Konsa to score anytime at 10/1 (General)
*0.5pt Konsa 1+ assists at 14/1 (Betway)
*0.25pt Konsa to score and assist at 129/1 (bet365)
*Selections added after widespread reports on Thursday afternoon that Bellingham will start on bench - scroll to bottom of article for new copy
1pt Jude Bellingham to score anytime at 5/2 (Sky Bet)
1pt Jude Bellingham 1+ assists at 3/1 (bet365)
"Do you feel I was experimenting in the last matches?
"I didn't feel that we were experimenting in the last two camps and we will not start in this camp. We take it serious, these are World Cup qualifiers - at home. We want to build and keep on going."
There we have it then, Thomas Tuchel will play his strongest XI against Serbia at Wembley on Thursday, despite it being a dead-rubber from England's perspective; Serbia still have plenty to play for in the battle for Group K's runners-up spot.
Six wins from six, 18 goals scored and none conceded have already guaranteed the Three Lions' place in North America, and they have built plenty of momentum in their past three fixtures, too.
That began with a crushing 5-0 win in Belgrade. Wales were blitzed 3-0 in a friendly, all of the goals coming in the opening 20 minutes. A usually stubborn Latvia were then swept aside 5-0 to confirm qualification.
All of that was done without a certain JUDE BELLINGHAM; anyone who believes he won't carry extra motivation into this international break clearly hasn't been paying attention over the past five years or so.
There was an enormous overreaction to the Real Madrid midfielder being left out of the last squad after only recently returning from shoulder surgery, despite Tuchel's very clear explanation that he had been left out because he had only recently returned from shoulder surgery...
Having started just one match this season, and been taken off after 70 minutes, quite understandably Bellingham wasn't called up.
He has since started Madrid's past six games, playing almost the entirety of them all. He's in good form too, scoring three goals and assisting once in his last five appearances.
Since the 2022 World Cup only Harry Kane has contributed more than Bellingham's 11 GOALS and ASSISTS for England, with the even money on offer for him to provide one or the other spot on given he averages 0.5 goal involvements per 90 in that period.
Backing him separately at 5/2 TO SCORE ANYTIME and 3/1 for 1+ ASSISTS feels very worthwhile.
The assists price is a cracking bet given that seven of those 11 contributions have come that way, but Bellingham's development as a goalscorer over the past three years means we have to factor that into his anytime price, meaning level stakes is advised.
Given how bad Serbia were defensively in the reverse fixture, it feels very possible that Bellingham is both scorer and provider on Thursday night.
Odds correct at 1430 GMT (12/11/25)
Annoyingly news broke on Thursday afternoon that Morgan Rogers had passed a fitness test on his hamstring injury and Bellingham was expected to start on the bench as a result. Luckily enough I still had the notes for EZRI KONSA TO SCORE ANYTIME and his 10/1 general price had held firm.
We can be confident the Aston Villa man will be in the XI having been on media duties ahead of the game.
I steered away from this on initial publish in preference for the Bellingham angle, but this is a thread I have been following throughout Tuchel's tenure.
In fact the one World Cup qualifier I didn't back an England defender to score in was in the reverse fixture, where both Konsa and Marc Guehi did so.
The duo also provided all three ASSISTS between them during the 3-0 win over Wales, with defenders proving to be a constant menace for Tuchel's team - John Stones joined in on the action against Latvia as he assisted the opening goal for Anthony Gordon.
Konsa is 14/1 to provide for a team-mate, and if we combine the selections then we can get a best price of 129/1 on the GOALSCORER-ASSIST DOUBLE, which is worth a bit of fun.
As it happens the now-injured Guehi managed this in the 5-0 win in Belgrade...
Odds correct at 1500 GMT (13/11/25)
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