England are looking to consolidate their place at the top of UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Group A when they host Bulgaria at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday. The two sides have last met in 2010-2011, also in the qualifying campaign for the European Championship, and at that time England won 4-0 in London and 3-0 in Sofia. England have won four of the last six direct matches and the other two were draws, while Bulgaria have never defeated the Three Lions in the ten matches that have been played.
England had a perfect start to the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, two wins out of two matches, ten goals scored and just one conceded. They kicked things off with a 5-0 home victory over Czech Republic and then won 5-1 in Montenegro, with Raheem Sterling bagging a total of four goals in the two matches. After those wins the Three Lions had to settle for third place in the UEFA Nations League this summer. New Manchester United signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka has withdrawn from the squad due to an injury, while Mason Mount, James Maddison and Tyrone Mings are all set to make their international debuts.
Bulgaria had a trerrible start to this campaign, things can only get better for them at this point. They started the campaign with 1-1 draws against Kosovo and North Macedonia and then the FA decided to appoint former international Krasimir Balakov as head coach. His first two matches in charge were quite disastrous, they lost 2-1 in Czech Republic and then 3-2 at home against Kosovo. Qualifying for Euro 2020 seems impossible for Bulgaria at the moment, their aim is to build up their confidence and maybe a new squad.
Probable line-ups:
England: Pickford - Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Maguire, Chilwell - Henderson, Rice, Winks - Sancho, Kane, Sterling
Bulgaria: Iliev - S. Popov, Bodurov, Bozhikov, Nedyalkov - Dimitrov, Milanov, Slavchev, Despodov - Kraev - I. Popov
My prediction:
Bulgaria have been a mess lately, while England have been playing like a well-tuned machine. I am quite certain that England will win this match, the only problem should be the goal difference. I believe the Three Lions have what it takes to grab a 3-0 win.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
England win - 1.09
Draw - 11.00
Bulgaria win - 21.75
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