2022 FIFA World Cup
Friday 25th November 2022
Kick off at 7pm GMT
Venue: Al Bayt Stadium
Match Preview:
England have got off to their best ever start at a World Cup with a fantastic 6-2 victory over Iran on Monday. England were the odds on favourites and heavily expected to win but not many would have predicted such a score line as these games can historically be frustrating for Gareth Southgate’s side. The team played with assured confidence and didn’t even let a 15 minute pause for Iran’s goalkeeper, who suffered concussion, knock them from their stride.
Southgate will be over the moon and especially with England’s new generation of players in Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford who came on as a substitute and scored and Jude Bellingham who opened the scoring. It was a near flawless display for England and even though they were expected to win, to score 6 goals will do their confidence no harm at all going into this game. England did concede two goals but that won’t have affected anyone given the circumstances; the first for Iran came when the game was already 4-0 in England’s favour and the second was a last minute penalty. England also received good news in trying to finish top of the group as the other two teams USA and Wales drew 1-1.
This fixture is quite historical given the relationship between both countries and the infamous time when USA beat England 1-0 at the 1950 World Cup, which back then was absolutely a shock, so much so that the English press believed that there was a miss print and that England must have won 10-1! There is a love/hate relationship here but for the most part it has been friendly banter. The USA would have been bitterly disappointed from their opening game against Wales given that they were a few minutes deep into injury time from victory. However Gareth Bale converted a penalty and the game finished 1-1. England will be expected to qualify from the group and then it looks like a toss up between the USA and Wales, the bottom line is that this game will really open up the group. In truth the USA Wales game felt a deserved draw but manager Gregg Berhalter will be worried that his team only had 1 shot on target in the entire game.
Team News:
England: Harry Maguire may miss out due to a suspected concussion in the opening group game against Iran. James Maddison will be assessed for fitness issues.
USA: There is a concern for Christian Pulisic who was accidentally trod on and this may have affected his Achilles, he will be assessed ahead of this match.
England vs USA Head to Head:
The teams have played each other 11 times. England has 8 wins, USA 2 and there has been one draw.
The last time England lost to the USA was back in 1993, the game finished 2-0.
The last fixture between the two sides was a friendly at Wembley Stadium in 2018 in which England won 3-0.
England have never beaten USA in the World Cup. In 1950 USA won 1-0 and in 2010 the game finished 1-1.
England vs USA Prediction:
England will start as favourites and for Gareth Southgate one would expect him to start with the same team that so easily brushed past Iran. However this should be a sterner test for the team. There is an obvious gap in quality from the two national sides but there is no doubt that USA have grown stronger over the last decade. The one worry that England has is how this game can be looked at like a derby, as if USA who are usually a nation more stronger in sports than England want to prove England wrong and cause a surprise and there players will certainly be up for this game.
If England conduct themselves well and have a plan from the beginning they should be able to win this game and score a few goals too. They looked irresistible against Iran going forward and even though they scored 6 goals it was a big surprise that Harry Kane failed to get on the score sheet. The forward only needs 3 goals to become England’s top goalscorer of all time and many believe he can achieve this in these World Cup finals. He did assist in two of England’s goals and scoring against the USA just feels like it is written in his destiny at this World Cup. England going forward have so many options and that should be a worry for USA, they will give it their all but we can’t see past another win and qualification from the group for Southgate’s team.
England vs USA Betting Tips:
England to beat USA at 1.57
Anytime goalscorer: Harry Kane at 1.91
Anytime goalscorer: Raheem Sterling at 2.75
Both teams to score at 1.91
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