England v Montenegro: Three Lions Poised to Qualify

Defeat to the Czech Republic in the previous international break means that England have yet to seal qualification to the 2020 European Championships. The 2-1 reverse in Prague was a rare setback for Gareth Southgate’s men but the Three Lions have an early chance to make amends when they host Montenegro this Thursday – November 14th.

A win will secure England’s passage to next year’s tournament and, having beaten these opponents by a 5-1 scoreline in the reverse fixture, everyone is expecting a very comfortable 90 minutes for the home side.

Date: November 14, 2019

Match Odds

There’s very little value in the result betting in our opinion: If you’re looking to back England, the best industry odds on the home win currently stand at 1/12 with Coral. The draw is the next available option at a top price of 14/1 with Unibet while a win for Montenegro is way out at a best of 40/1 with William Hill and 888Sport.

Montenegro have yet to win in Group A and their only incentive is to avoid finishing bottom in the section. Three draws from seven games is their return so far and it would be a huge shock if the away side can improve on that record on Friday night.

Individual Goal Scorers

Harry Kane

If you’re not interested in the result betting then we’ll have to look more closely at the side bets for this game. Starting with first goalscorer, the familiar name of Harry Kane starts as favourite for this one and you can pick up the Tottenham striker at best odds of 47/20 with Unibet and 888Sport.

The bookies have a good feeling about Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham and he comes in at 14/5 with Betway, just ahead of Callum Wilson at 16/5 with Betway again. As you’d expect, England players dominate the first goalscorer betting and as we move through the midfield, you can claim Jadon Sancho at 7/2 with William Hill, James Maddison at 8/1 with Betway and Mason Mount at 9/1 with Betway.

We pass through some England defenders before we finally reach a member of the away team. Fatos Beqiraj is Montenegro’s favourite to open the scoring and he can be picked up at best odds of 25/1 with Betway. Beqiraj has nine goals in 65 full internationals coming into this match and if you think he will add to that tally with the first strike on Friday night, you could claim a seriously good return.

One of our own favourites – Raheem Sterling – is missing from this game following his confrontation with Joe Gomez so we have to look elsewhere. We could switch to the relative safety of the Anytime Goal market but England’s strikers are all listed at odds on prices and we need some value.

Our pick, therefore, is for James Maddison to get on the scoresheet in 90 minutes at 2/1 with SportingBet or Betway. The Leicester City man has scored vital goals for his club this season and it’s surely time for Gareth Southgate to give him a chance on the international stage. With plenty of goals expected, Maddison will have every opportunity to seal a scoring debut.

Other Side Bets

Our round up of regular prop bets starts with Both Teams to Score which is on offer at best odds of 24/13 with VBet and Royal Panda. It’s rare to see a BTTS option head above Even Money and this is close to 2/1, so should we take it?

It’s a nice return if it lands and while England have conceded six goals in six qualifying games, Montenegro have scored just three times, so we’re going to pass.

In the Total Goals betting, backing over the 2.5 line looks safe at best odds of 6/17 with Vbet but you can surely look to extend that. Over 3.5 is quoted at 4/5 with Sport Pesa but we’re pushing to Over 4.5 which can be claimed at a best of 31/14 with Vbet.

Those suggestions give an insight into our thinking and for our final tip of the game, we’re looking for England to win to Nil which is currently listed at 4/9. If that’s too short, you could take a much bigger punt on a Correct Score of England 5 Montenegro 0 at a top price of 39/4 with 10Bet or SportNation.

It should certainly be a comfortable evening for Southgate and his men so let’s look to these three tips to make it a profitable 90 minutes for ourselves.

Best Bets:

• James Maddison to score any time at 2/1 with SportingBet
• Over 4.5 Goals at 31/14 with VBet