England vs Albania predictions, betting tips and odds: Tuchel's team can take a first step towards glory

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Where to watch England vs Albania

You can watch England vs Albania in World Cup qualifying Group K at 7.45pm on Friday, March 21, live on ITV1.

England vs Albania prediction & best bet

England win to nil
2pts 13-20 Hills

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England vs Albania odds

Here are the latest odds ahead of England vs Albania in World Cup qualifying Group K

Odds correct at time of publishing

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England vs Albania predictions

Thomas Tuchel has spent the last five months preparing for his first match as England manager and can get off to a strong start by steering the Three Lions to a comfortable victory over Albania in the first of eight World Cup qualifying group games.

Tuchel has had lots of success in club football management and seems undaunted by the challenge of ending England's 60-year wait for global glory.

The 51-year-old inherits a team accustomed to reaching the later stages of major tournaments but before dreaming of a successful summer in 2026 he has to avoid mishaps over the next eight months.

Only the winners of each of the 12 Uefa sections are assured of automatic qualification and England should anticipate competition from Serbia and Albania, who are the second and third seeds in Group K.

Albania have the first opportunity to take on Tuchel's top seeds and will be looking to raise their performance level after a disappointing Nations League campaign which resulted in their relegation to League C.

Sylvinho's side finished at the foot of Group B1 - beneath Czech Republic, Ukraine and Georgia – and their struggles were both surprising and disappointing after they had competed well at Euro 2024, sustaining narrow losses to Italy (2-1) and Spain (1-0) either side of a 2-2 draw against Croatia.

Failure to advance from Euro 2024's so-called group of death was far from a disgrace, although it continued a trend of struggles against elite opposition.

Albania haven't won a competitive game in 19 attempts against top-ten ranked teams, with 17 of them ending in defeats.

Their efforts to snap the sequence against England are hampered by injuries to first-choice full backs Elseid Hysaj and Mario Mitaj, who will miss the trip to Wembley and Monday's home fixture against Andorra.

Offensively, Albania are stronger than they were in November with Sivasspor striker Rey Manaj and Everton's on-loan Chelsea forward Armando Broja back in contention.

However, the Balkan nation have failed to score in three of their last five internationals and it is hard to imagine them creating many chances against an England side fully focused on getting their new era off to the best possible start.

Tuchel wants his team to play at a high tempo and get the England fans behind them, but he will be equally keen to limit the opposition to as few openings as possible.

His number one priority is to get off to a winning start and that should be achieved while keeping the opposition off the scoresheet.

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Key stat

England have won all of their six matches against Albania and kept clean sheets in five of them

England vs Albania team news

England
Morgan Gibbs-White has been called up as a replacement for Cole Palmer, who withdrew from the squad due to an unspecified injury. Lewis Hall, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kobbie Mainoo, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka are also unavailable due to injuries.

Albania
Armando Broja and Rey Manaj are back in the squad after missing out last November but  Elseid Hysaj (thigh) and Mario Mitaj (groin) are ruled out.

England vs Albania predicted line-ups

England (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Walker, Guehi, Colwill, Lewis-Skelly; Henderson, Rice; Foden, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane.
Subs: James, Konsa, Eze, Rogers, Jones, Rashford, Bowen.

Albania (4-3-3): Strakosha; Balliu, Ismajli, Djimsiti, Aliji; Laci, Ramadani, Asllani; Asani, Manaj, Muci.
Subs: Ajeti, Kumbulla, Bajrami, Uzuni, Broja, Berisha, Hoxha.

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England vs Albania bet builder predictions

Jude Bellingham to have a shot on target
Jude Bellingham has scored more regularly for his club than his country but he will pose a significant threat to Albania and has every chance of having a shot on target.

Harry Kane to score any time
Kane netted 12 goals during England's 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign and should find a way of exposing Albania's injury-hit defence.

Ivan Balliu to be carded
The Rayo Vallecano right-back has been short of game-time in La Liga and his lack of sharpness increases the possibility of mistimed challenges and a card being received.

Pays out at 7-1 with Paddy Power

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