North Macedonia vs England Prediction and Betting Tips: Side with Saka to provide an assist

England take on North Macedonia in their final international match of 2023 on Monday evening. Our man Anthony Eadson has picked out his two best bets for the game including a 5/1 shout from the anytime assist market.

Gareth Southgate’s side have had a fairly solid qualification campaign, securing 19 points in seven matches to confidently lead Group C and secure a spot in the upcoming European Championship. On the flip side, North Macedonia's hopes for qualification have been dashed as they find themselves in fourth place in the group, effectively ruled out from the contention.

England head into their final Group C match, off the back of a 2-0 victory against Malta at Wembley last Friday. Harry Kane found the net in the 75th minute following an own-goal by Enrico Pepe that had given the home side the lead.

While the Three Lions' performance may not have been the most inspiring, they have managed to secure six wins and one draw in their seven matches and can be sided with at 1/6 to collect the three points.

The first selection I like the look of on Monday is for Jack Grealish to record Over 0.5 Shots on Target in the match. With Marcus Rashford being forced off due to injury against Malta on Friday it should allow Grealish to slot into the starting XI as part of a front-three with Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka.

Grealish has registered at least one shot on target in all of his three most recent starts for Manchester City, despite failing to score yet this season. This bet is priced at 4/9 with Sky, and considering England beat North Macedonia 7-0 when they last met in June, I’m surprised to see 11/10 available for the same selection with bet365.

I’ve also taken a lean towards Bukayo Saka providing an assist in the match. The 22-year-old already has managed 13 goals for club and country this season, but I do feel it has gone under the radar a little bit that he has also contributed with ten assists.

One of those was for Harry Kane’s second half goal against Malta on Friday and once again we have quite a large discrepancy in price between different bookmakers. William Hill go 13/8 that Saka provides an assist against North Macedonia, which is considerably shorter than the 5/1 that is available with both BetMGM and bet365.