Focus Fixture: Scott Thornton's 7/2 Bet Builder for England's final warm-up match

England take on Iceland in their final warmup match before Euro 2024. Gareth Southgate’s men coasted past Bosnia on Monday night and will be hoping to record another emphatic victory here.

The Form

The Three Lions took a while to get going against Bosnia but they looked at their best in the last half hour. They were able to restrict the away side to just one shot for the entirety of the match and never looked in any trouble before Cole Palmer opened the scoring from the penalty spot. Southgate used the game to evaluate his fringe players but the first eleven is likely to start against Iceland.

England boasts one of the best squads going into Euro 2024. Three of their players, in the form of Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham, feature in the top six of the betting for the Ballon d’Or. It’ll be interesting to see how Gareth balances his starting eleven ahead of the big kick-off but whoever plays will be capable of putting Iceland to the sword.

Iceland has a population of just 400,000 so they aren’t blessed with the talent pool that England have. They famously eliminated England in the knockout stages of Euro 2016 but they won’t have the chance to compete in this year’s tournament.

Iceland finished fourth in their qualifying group, behind Portugal, Slovakia and Luxembourg. They were handed a second bite at the cherry thanks to their performance in the UEFA Nations League but were beaten by Ukraine in the qualification playoff.

The Runners and Riders

Gareth Southgate has begun the process of cutting down his squad ahead of this clash. James Maddison will play no part in Germany and six more will have to be sent home. With this being the last game before England take to the field against Serbia, expect most of the big guns to feature from the off.

A couple of Iceland’s higher-profile players won’t be involved here. Albert Gudmundsson, who has enjoyed a good season in Serie A  will miss out. Another striker, Alfred Finbogason, will also be unavailable.

What They Said

England’s first-half attacking display against Bosnia fell short of expectations but Gareth Southgate insisted that the win gave him further selection headaches. The England boss said, “The great thing is we’ve got through the last few days with no new problems. That’s really important. We needed to get through these first matches to get a clearer picture and the guys rehabbing have done well. “It’s a little bit (of a new headache) but that’s a good thing. I would rather have good performances than poor performances.”

Iceland aren’t expected to pull up any trees in their friendlies against England and the Netherlands.

Tip

First up, we are backing England to win and keep a clean sheet. This bet won when we backed England's win over Bosnia and it looks a good pick once again. 

England have kept a clean sheet in both of their matches against Iceland since Euro 2016. The Three Lions won 4-0 in the most recent of those meetings. They dominated proceedings, keeping 78% of the ball and restricting Iceland to just two shots, neither of which tested the goalkeeper. Expect one-way traffic once again, with England’s midfield capable of keeping the ball for long periods.

Gareth Southgate’s side are conceding 1.9 shots on target on average in their last 10 matches. They have faced the likes of Brazil, Italy and Belgium in that time. Iceland don’t pack the same punch as those sides, particularly with their main attacking outlet absent.

Iceland seldom take on a side that possesses the same quality as England. However, they did face Portugal in the Euro 2024 qualifying group, a side that are ranked just two places below Southgate’s men in the FIFA World Rankings. They failed to score in both of their matches against Portugal.

Recommended Bet: England to win and both teams to score – no at 1.65

Bet Builder Tip

We are backing England to win to nil and Harry Kane to score at least twice for our bet builder tip.

Harry Kane started on the bench against Bosnia but was able to come on and score. He had five shots despite playing just 29 minutes and England looked far more dangerous with their talisman on the field.

Kane’s goal scoring prowess is no secret. His move to Germany last summer may not have paid dividends in terms of silverware in his first season but he remains one of the most fearsome strikers in world football. He scored 36 goals in 32 Bundesliga matches and comes into the Euros in fantastic form. Harry is short-priced for a goal here but a brace looks more than doable with the striker set to get plenty of minutes in this one as England complete their tournament preparations.

Recommend Bet: England to win to nil and Harry Kane to score 2+ goals at 4.50