England vs Latvia prediction: EUROPE: World Championship – Qualification betting tips on match 2025-03-23 19:45.
[p]The Thomas Tuchel era got off to a flying start on Friday when England dispatched Albania 2-0 at Wembley, with 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly becoming the youngest-ever player to score on his England debut. They make a swift return to the national stadium to face the other side in World Cup qualifying (WCQ) Group K also on three points, Latvia, for what will be a landmark evening as it’s the first-ever meeting between the two nations, who sit an incredible 136 places apart in FIFA’s rankings. [/p]
[p]England should mark the occasion with a victory, given they’ve not lost a home WCQ game since October 2000 (W26, D3). An impressive 12 of the last 15 of those wins came with an accompanying clean sheet, and history is on Tuchel’s side to do so again, as two of the last three England managers to oversee at least five games have won their opening two games with an accompanying clean sheet. [/p]
[p]Latvia impressively opened their WCQ campaign with a 1-0 win over Andorra, but they won’t be overestimating the size of this task in comparison. Never in history have they beaten a side currently ranked inside FIFA’s top ten (D2, L21), so they’ll have to become national heroes here if they’re to take the next step on the road to a first-ever World Cup finals appearance. [/p]
[p]There are some positives for Latvia, who have won their last two WCQ games, but both came against sides ranked #171st and #196th respectively. Both also came on the road, affording them the chance to win three WCQ away games in a row for the first time ever, and given Latvia are unbeaten in their last five such games (W2, D3) – their longest such run since becoming an independent nation – perhaps they shouldn’t be written off here. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: England’s Morgan Rogers could get a chance from the start here, and his last six scoring appearances at club level saw him net after half-time. Latvia’s Dario Šits netted the winner against Andorra and has scored in two of their last three away games.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: England have scored in the opening 20 minutes in four of their last five WCQ games. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Chris Wilson[/i][/p]