STAR PREVIEW Tues: England v Ivory Coast
England managed to extend their unbeaten run to 21 games with victory against Switzerland on Saturday, but they had to work for it and the Ivory Coast can give them another hard game in their second friendly at Wembley.
Given that it was their first game of the year, it was perhaps understandable that England struggled for rhythm against the Swiss, who deserved their lead until Luke Shawโs equaliser on the stroke of half time.
The hosts improved after the break โ with Conor Gallagher in particular making a bold claim for a starting spot whilst Kyle Walker-Peters and Marc Guehi had good debuts โ but they had to work hard for their victory, and England could struggle for rhythm tonight with more changed in the offing.
Gareth Southgate will take every chance to use his full squad given the very different nature of this World Cup year, and Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish, Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Emile Smith Rowe could all be in line for starts this evening.
England v Ivory Coast
International Friendly
19:45 Sky Sports Main Event HD / Sky Sports Football HD / Sky Sports Ultra HD
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches)
First meeting between teams
England have a huge amount of quality at their disposal, but the Ivory Coast have plenty of threat too and they pushed France to the very limit on Saturday, with Nicolas Pepe scoring the opener and only a late header from Aurelien Tchouameni giving the French victory.
Patrice Beaumelle could make changes to his starting XI too with, Maxwel Cornet and Max Gradel possible starts but the visitors are unlikely to head into this game with a weak side and itโs quite likely we could see Nicolas Pepe, Sebastian Haller and Wilfried Zaha as the front three at Wembley, a trio which has the potential to cause England serious problems.
England could well find a way to be too good but once again 4/9 about them winning looks too short and the Ivory Coast appeal with a two goal start at 8/13, whilst 11/10 about them with a goal start on the Asian Handicap should give a very decent run for our money.
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BACK Ivory Coast +2 2pts at 8/13 (Latest Star Price
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BACK Ivory Coast +1 on Asian Handicap 2pts at 11/10 (Latest Star Price
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PROFIT/LOSS (MARCH 2022): LOSS -24.91 points
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