Kosovo vs England Predictions

England celebrated their 1000^th international match in style on Thursday with a thumping 7-0 win over Montenegro at Wembley Stadium.

The thrilling attacking performance and huge final scoreline were firmly in keeping with the rest of England’s highly productive Euro 2020 qualification campaign; after their latest rout, the Three Lions are out on their own as the highest-scoring team across all 10 Groups.

In total, England have plundered an eye-watering 33 goals across the seven Group A fixtures they have navigated so far. Gareth Southgate’s men hit five of those goals in their last meeting with Kosovo back in early September.

The Kosovans struck three goals in reply against England that evening, however, and against what is almost certain to be a rejigged Three Lions’ team for the rematch, we think Kosovo can breach their opponent’s defence once again.

With qualification for next summer’s Finals secured, Gareth Southgate will likely draft in a number of his back-up options to England’s starting XI, which could mean players like Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham and James Maddison make the cut for the contest in Pristina.

There are likely to be plenty of changes in defence, too, with Tyrone Mings, Joe Gomez and Fikayo Tomori all vying for starts. The major personnel reshuffle in Kosovo should ensure we are treated to an open, exciting game at the Pristina City Stadium.

Kosovo’s recent home record is impressive, and Bernard Challandes’ men are unbeaten on their own patch in Group A, winning three and drawing the other of their four qualification games there so far. In total, Kosovo have come out on top in 10 of their last 11 international games in front of their own fans, though the quality of opponent during that sequence was admittedly of a low level.

A meeting with a free-scoring England side represents a far tougher challenge, and with an incredible average of 4.7 goals per 90 minutes of action so far, The Three Lions have been a cut above the rest in Group A. Even with a much-changed line-up, we expect England to have too much quality for their hosts on Sunday. But we do also think Southgate’s rearguard will have trouble keeping out a Kosovo team that have registered in 100% of their Group games to date.

In addition, Kosovo haven’t failed to score in a home match since October 2017 and, having already showed they have the technical talent to open England up at Wembley, we’re tipping them to grab a consolation goal again in Pristina this week.

With those factors considered, we think the England win and both teams to score combination looks incredibly attractive at the prices available, while our correct score prediction settles on a 3-1 away victory.

England have scored three or more goals in six of their seven Group A matches so far and averaged 3.66 goals per game across their trio of away fixtures. England hit five goals the last time they faced Kosovo but, with star attackers likely to sit Sunday’s game out, we think their final haul should be a more modest figure this time around.