England v Senegal Tips December 4

The Three Lions of England face Senegal’s Lions of Teranga - a battle between football’s spiritual home and the reigning African champions with a World Cup quarterfinal place on the line.

England and Senegal have never faced each other in all their years on the international scene, so if you’re looking for a head-to-head record for these two nations then you’re going to be left disappointed!

Gareth Southgate’s side will be strong favourites against Aliou Cissé’s Senegal at the Al Bayt Stadium, but this is going to be a battle.

England v Africa

Although this is the first time that English have faced Senegal, it is certainly not their first meeting with African opposition. Over the years, the Three Lions have faced CAF nations on seven previous occasions in this competition.

They’ve never lost a game against an opponent from Africa in 20 encounters across tournament play and friendlies, but they have only won four of the seven games in World Cup meetings, which includes a last-gasp victory against Tunisia in Russia four years ago.

With that in mind, England’s prohibitive odds (1.57) to win this game aren’t too appealing. And, with previous games proving to be relatively low-scoring, a punt on England and under 3.5 goals (2.02) is of more interest.

Senegal’s depleted ranks

Cissé’s built a strong Senegalese unit over the years, and it’s absolutely no shock to see them reach this stage of the tournament. However, there is no getting away from the fact that they haven’t been quite as solid of late.

Senegal have conceded at least one goal in their last four games and they go into this weekend’s knockout fixture with a couple of key absences, which add to their pre-tournament loss of Sadio Mané.

Vital figure Idrissa Gana Gueye is suspended and Cheikhou Kouyaté missed training on Thursday with an injury. With both players missing and resistance perhaps proving low, England winning to nil (2.12) is tempting, but instead I would rather back them to net in each half at 2.76.

The Harry Kane dilemma

Harry Kane doesn’t usually go too long without scoring. It’s been 18 months since he went more than three games for his country without finding the back of the net, and you would be a brave person to bet against him getting on the scoresheet in the Round of 16.

But there have been questions about his current deep-lying role after he provided assists – rather than goals – in the group stages. Some have even called for the Three Lions skipper to be dropped.

The chances of that happening are probably slim to none, and the shortest odds (4.5) in the first goalscorer market reflect that. Given his impressive goalscoring record - Kane has netted 28 for club and country in 2022 - it feels like ‘when’ he will end his drought, rather than ‘if’.