England Team to Face Iran Odds: 10/1 4-fold on who Southgate will start in our World Cup opener

The World Cup will start in just over five months time in Qatar, with Brazil the current favourites with the bookmakers, priced around 11/2. England will be looking to build upon their achievements of reaching a semi-final and final in their most recent major tournaments and have been drawn in Group B alongside the USA, Iran and Wales.

Gareth Southgate’s side will take on Iran in the Khalifa International stadium on 21 November 2022 and Paddy Power have released a market with odds, for which players will start the game for the Three Lions. Furthermore, Paddy’s have also now allowed punters to select numerous players and combine them into an accumulator. Here at BettingOdds.com we’ve taken a dive into the market and have picked out four selections, which at the time of writing combine for a 4-fold that pays just over 10/1.

Jordan Pickford - 1/3

Let’s start in goal, and despite plenty of debate around whether Aaron Ramsdale or not should be England’s first-choice goalkeeper, we’ve decided to include Jordan Pickford in our acca to start against Iran.

In total, Pickford now has 45 caps for the national side and has the experience of two major tournaments behind him. Pickford also helped England to claim a win on penalties against Colombia in the 2018 World Cup, and saved two penalties in the Euro 2020 final shoot-out, with England missing three. 

Aaron Ramsdale did not do himself any favours when conceding four goals to Hungary, having been given the chance to prove himself in the Nations League in June. With Southgate already favouring Pickford over the Arsenal shot-stopper, this embarrassing defeat could well have cemented his decision to continue with Pickford as the first choice between the sticks. 

Kyle Walker - 10/11

England’s options on the right side of defence are quite frankly, ridiculous, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier able to play in various positions in this area of the pitch. 

We are expecting England to go with a 3-4-3 formation, and based on this Kyle Walker fits perfectly on the right of the three defenders. This then allows Gareth Southgate to play the more attacking-minded and cross-heavy Trent Alexander-Arnold or Reece James on the right of midfield. Walker’s recovery pace in defence may be called upon in the latter stages of the tournament when up against some of the superstars of world football such as Vinicius Junior or Kylian Mbappe, but at 10/11 he looks a tempting price to start the first match of the tournament. 

Jude Bellingham - 6/4

Sticking with the 3-4-3 formation, and presuming that Mason Mount starts as part of Southgate’s front-three, it's hard not to see it being a three horse race in the central midfield area between Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Jude Bellingham. 

At the age of 18, Jude Bellingham has played 61 matches for Dortmund and already made 15 appearances for the England senior side! The former Birmingham City teenager has put in some classy performances for both club and country over the last year or so, especially in the Champions League for Dortmund. His presence on the pitch and the maturity he is showing for his age cannot be ignored and at 6/4 we fancy him to start the game against Iran over Kalvin Phillips. 

Phil Foden - 5/6 

Rounding off the quartet of selections is Manchester City’s Phil Foden. Recently crowned the Premier League Young Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, Phil Foden managed 14 goals and 15 assists for club and country since the start of the 2021/2022 campaign. 

Pep Guardiola is now often turning to Foden in the very biggest of matches for City, and with goals against Liverpool and Real Madrid last season, he’s proving just how much of a game changer he can be. We feel Foden has the upper hand in terms of Southgate’s selection over Jack Grealish and Bukayo Saka who have proved effective from the substitutes bench at national level. Raheem Sterling’s future at club level seems uncertain and at 5/6 we like the look of Foden to start from the off versus Iran, in a front-three alongside Mason Mount and Harry Kane. 

Combining those four players pays just over 10/1 with Paddy Power. Please gamble responsibly.