England vs Panama
World Cup 2018 Group G
Date: Sunday, 24 June 2018
Kick-Off at 13:00 UK / 14:00 CET
Venue: Stadion Nizhny Novgorod.
- England disappointed in the first round in spite of beating Tunisia 2-1.
- The match with Panama is a fantastic chance for Southgate’s troops to fix the impression and raise the spirits with a comprehensive victory.
- Panama lost 3-0 to Belgium on their World Cup debut.
- Hernan Gomez and his men will be lucky to avoid a disaster in their first ever head to head tie with England.
England somehow managed to clinch a very important three pointer at the start of their campaign in Russia.
They edged Tunisia 2-1 only thanks to a late stoppage-time header from Harry Kane who once again proved himself as the golden touch striker.
A win over World Cup debutants Panama would send England to the knockout stage before the third-round tie with Belgium. Can they avoid the drama this time out?
England vs Panama Match Preview
Gareth Southgate’s troops got off to a thrilling tart on Monday evening at Volgograd Arena. They entirely dominated the proceedings having made as many as 6 shots on goal, their best record in the first half of any World Cup match since the 1966 semi-final clash with Portugal.
Nevertheless, they failed to convert such dominance on the pitch as Tunisia even managed to go on the half time with level terms after a poor reaction from right-back Kyle Walker. Manchester City’s defender gifted Tunisia the lone chance to have a shot on target as Ferjani Sassi took advantage of it.
The second half brought a completely different story with England failing to impose any kind of threat to Tunisia’s goal. Set pieces were the biggest chance for England and they got the victory after two corners after all. Harry Kane continued his stellar form with the national side netting a goal in five consecutive caps for the Three Lions. He notched 15 in last 25 appearances for England and the Tottenham Hotspur striker will no doubts be the main danger to Panama’s goal on Saturday.
Los Canaleros enjoyed the occasion of featuring a World Cup affair for the first time in their history when they took on Belgium on Monday afternoon. They held it out to a goalless draw in the first 45 minutes, but failed to par Belgian stars’ fitness and extra class to stay competitive later on, losing 3-0 eventually.
England vs Panama Team News and Predicted Line-ups
England Team News
- Southgate expectedly used the 3-5-2 formation against Tunisia.
- Dele Alli picked up a thigh strain against Tunisia and expected to sit out of this match making way for Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the middle of the park.
- Kyle Walker was the weakest piece of the three-man back line and he could be replaced in the second round clash by the experienced Cahill.
- Kieran Trippier played very well on the right flank creating as many as 6 goal-scoring chances.
- Jordan Henderson will likely start as a defensive midfielder once again, while Jesse Lingard might lose his place in the starting line-up.
- This is how we see the Three Lions lining up in the second-round tie with Panama:
England Predicted Starting Eleven (3-5-2)
Pickford – Cahill, Stones, Maguire – Young, Henderson, Lingard, Loftus-Cheek, Trippier – Sterling, Kane.
Panama Team News
- Los Canaleros play a 4-1-4-1 formation, the one favoured by Tunisia who caused plenty of troubles to England in the second half.
- Nonetheless, Panama are arguably the weakest side in the competition and they should really not represent a problem for the Three Lions here.
- We expect the head coach Hernan Gomez to use the same side that that played Belgium in the first fixture.
Panama Predicted Starting Eleven (4-1-4-1)
Penedo – Murillo, Torres, Escobar, Davis – Gómez – Bárcenas, Cooper, Godoy, Rodriguez – Perez.
England Panama Head-to-head
This will be the first ever head to head encounter between England and Panama.
England vs Panama Predictions
Things are going as planned for the favourites in Group G as both Belgium and England snatched wins in their opening fixtures. Another pair of successes would send them to the knockout round even before their H2H encounter in the third round.
It will likely be a contest for the top spot in the group, but which of teams will head into it in higher spirits? The clash with Panama is a perfect opportunity for the Three Lions to improve the momentum after a rather poor 45 minutes of football in the second half of the game against Tunisia.
Los Canaleros did make Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois react in the game with a couple of shots on target, but it’s really hard to imagine them causing troubles to England’s defensive line here.
England rarely conceded goals under Gareth Southgate and we genuinely believe they should have no troubles keeping things tight at the back here. The odds for the Three Lions to win to nil are set at 1.50. The value pick would be England to win by three or more goals at the odds of 2.60.
Predicted Full-Time Result is England winning in style after a sluggish display in the opening fixture against Tunisia.
England vs Panama Betting Tips
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England to win to nil @ 1.50.
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England -2.5 handicap @ 2.60.
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Correct FT Score: 4-0 England @ 10.00.
