Hungary v England tips: World Cup qualifying best bets and preview
Jake Pearson previews England's World Cup qualifier against Hungary, and he is siding with a low-scoring victory for the Three Lions.
Football betting tips: World Cup qualifiers
1pt England to win and under 3.5 goals at 21/20 (Betway)
Hungary have been ordered by UEFA to play their next three home matches behind closed doors due to the discriminatory behavior of their fans during Euro 2020, but given World Cup qualifiers are FIFA organised, this game will not be affected.
That is certainly an advantage for Hungary given the usually raucous atmosphere inside the Puskas Arena, but England have dealt with hostile environments before and they can do so again in Budapest.
Hungary surprised many people with their performances at Euro 2020, losing 3-0 to Portugal in their opener, but holding both France and Germany to draws, and actually coming within minutes of qualifying for the knock-out stages; a late Leon Goretzka goal sending the Germans through instead.
Perhaps those results shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise however, given the way Hungary have begun their World Cup qualification campaign, holding Poland to a 3-3 draw before comfortably sweeping aside San Marino and Andorra, leaving them in second place in Group I.
England currently lead the way in the group with three wins from three, having beaten San Marino, Albania and Poland.
Gareth Southgate’s men will still be licking their wounds after their penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy in the final of Euro 2020, but they need to be focused for a potentially tricky away tie.
Southgate has named a strong squad for these internationals, and there is no sense of England taking their foot off the gas; rebuilding momentum is imperative.
There has been a call-up for Patrick Bamford, as well as the return of Jesse Lingard, but other than those two additions, this is more or less the squad that almost led England to their first major tournament victory since 1966.
There could be changes made, both in terms of personnel and formation, but the fundamentals will likely remain the same for the Three Lions.
Only one England game in the Euros saw more than 3.5 goals, their 4-0 victory over Ukraine, while even in these qualifiers two of their three matches have seen three or fewer goals.
Despite the attacking talent at Southgate’s disposal, he is content to win games in a pragmatic manner, and that could well continue into this round of fixtures.
England are fancied to win this game comfortably, the bookmakers giving them more than 67% chance of victory, and that is hard to disagree with.
Also heavily odds-on is under 3.5 goals in the match, with an implied probability of 77%, and given England’s propensity to win games without scoring plenty of goals, both these prices seem correct.
A straight double on these two would work out at less than even money, so the odds-against on offer about ENGLAND TO WIN AND UNDER 3.5 GOALS makes plenty of appeal, and is a confident selection ahead of this match.
Hungary v England best bets and score prediction
- 1pt England to win and under 3.5 goals at 21/20 (Betway)
Score prediction: Hungary 0-1 England (Sky Bet odds: 9/2)
Odds correct at 1230 BST (31/08/21)
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