England Squad for the World Cup Odds: We take a look at the markets following England's final international break before Qatar
Following their entertaining 3-3 draw with Germany, the eyes of Gareth Southgate and England will be focused firmly on Qatar, as the next match that they will play will be their opening game against Iran on November 21st.
So, with a putrid Nations League campaign done and dusted, which saw England not win a game and be relegated from a group that also had Hungary in, has anyone done enough to play themselves into Southgate’s plans, or will there be anyone forced out?
We’ve looked at the odds to make it on the plane to the Middle East, if there’s been any big changes in price, and we make a case for some longer odds players to feature.
Who’s set to be in the squad?
The usual likes of Kane (1/25), Pickford (1/25), Sterling (1/20), Mount (1/16), and Foden (1/16) will be packing their bags this winter, barring any injuries. Jude Bellingham has also shown his importance to Southgate’s England plans. Having been the shining light from the Nations League campaign, the Borussia Dortmund midfielder is around 1/12 to be included this winter.
There are plenty of other players whose positions on the plane look secure, with the likes of Nick Pope, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Reece James all featuring in the manager’s recent plans, and all coming in under EVS to be in Qatar.
Odds changes
England’s recent poor form has thrown up a lot of criticism of Southgate and his inclusions and exclusions in squads. In particular, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fikayo Tomori are two names that have been suggested when it comes to potentially solving the defensive instability. Since September 9th, Trent has gone from a 1/10 shot to be included in the squad, to a price of 1/2!
For Tomori, a recent Serie A winner, the public calls for him to replace the likes of Maguire and Coady have been growing for months, but he played a grand total of 0 minutes during this international break, seeing his price go from 2/5 to EVS with some bookmakers at the time of writing.
Moving on to players that have struggled, there’s nowhere else that we can start than with Harry Maguire. Maguire has endured a torrid time so far this season, losing his place in Man Utd’s starting XI, despite being club captain, to putting in some shaky performances for his country. After being at fault for both of Germany’s opening two goals, Maguire saw his price to be included plummet, from a sure fire 1/16, to 1/4 at the time of writing. The Man Utd skipper has the backing of Southgate, but you have to think that a severe lack of game time before the World Cup could really hinder his chances.
A case for the outsiders.
As previously mentioned, both Trent and Tomori can feel hard done by when it comes to not playing any minutes during the international break, and the same can be said for Ivan Toney (1/2). With Kane obviously being the main man up top, Toney is the perfect understudy, as one of the most in-form players in the Premier League currently, given that only Kane, Mitrovic and Haaland have scored more league goals than Toney this season. The stats back Toney’s inclusion in the squad, given that only Kane and his team-mate Son have scored more league goals than Toney in 2022, and again it’s only Kane that has had a direct hand in more Premier League goals than the Brentford striker when it comes to English players.
Another name that will have been disappointed to miss out on the recent international break is Arsenal’s Ben White. White has had a meteoric rise to sit as part of the back four that leads the Premier League table, and at 9/4 represents the clear value play here. Part of one of the league’s best defences, extremely comfortable on the ball, versatile with an ability to fill in at full-back or even midfield clearly hasn’t been enough to convince the England manager to make him part of the squad, but if he continues to help his club side lead the way in the league then Southgate will really be given something to think about.
Finally, we’re looking at James Maddison as a long-shot of 4/1 to make the plane. Despite his club being rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, Maddison has clearly shone for Leicester, being directly involved in four goals in his six games, including scoring against the likes of Arsenal and Spurs. Only Ivan Toney and Harry Kane have been directly involved in more goals than Maddison for English players, and the Leicester playmaker will no doubt have his eye on securing a late spot in Qatar.
