North Macedonia v England: Rice can help fry hosts in final qualifier
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Euro 2024 qualifying: North Macedonia v England betting tips
England wrap up their Euro 2024 qualification campaign with Monday’s trip to North Macedonia, who start as 22/1 outsiders to cause an upset.
The Three Lions had already qualified for next summer’s tournament before Friday’s lacklustre victory over Malta which came without a host of players like Jude Bellingham and James Maddison.
We’re taking a look at some of the markets and odds to pick out some North Macedonia v England betting tips.
Three Lions look to roar again
Gareth Southgate admitted England’s players fell short of their usual standards during the 2-0 win against the Maltese, who lost all eight matches in the group.
England took an eighth-minute lead through an Enrico Pepe own goal and Harry Kane added another after a rare moment of quality interplay with a quarter of an hour remaining as Southgate’s side all but assured their place among the top seeds at next month’s Euro 2024 draw.
Southgate said: “We didn’t start the game well. I’ve been in football for 35 years and if you don’t start well, it’s really difficult to pick it up.
“We needed, of course, to show better quality with the ball but also we were a bit stretched without it and a little bit disjointed in our pressing at times. We were not the level we would want to be at. We were not the level that we need to be at.
“But, equally, this group of players have been exceptional and I’m not going to start getting into their ribs too much about a performance like tonight.”
Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick and Kane bagged a double in a 7-0 win against North Macedonia at Old Trafford five months ago, but Friday’s performance suggests their final qualifier is unlikely to be a cakewalk.
Monday’s opponents gave us a 23/10 winner when they scored in a 5-2 defeat in Italy on the same evening, although they threatened an almighty comeback from three down to make it 3-2 with 16 minutes only for the Azzurri to score a couple of late goals.
Southgate will not want to head to Germany with another listless display in their final competitive match, so the likes of Saka and Declan Rice – substitutes on Friday – could return to the starting line-up, although Kieran Trippier has left the squad to attend to a personal matter.
However, we’re going with the Euro 2020 runners-up to win and under 3.5 goals at 10/11 as the first of our North Macedonia v England betting tips.
Early night for Southgate’s men on cards
Despite Friday’s display, England scored another early goal and have been leading after 30 minutes in four of their seven qualifiers.
That was the case in the reverse fixture at Wembley – just – so Southgate’s side to be in front after half an hour certainly catches the eye at 21/20.
We picked out Rice as a potential goalscorer for Friday’s game, so it was slightly disappointing to see the midfielder on the bench.
The Arsenal man was 4/1 to get on the scoresheet against Malta, but his price has been increased to 11/2 for the trip to Skopje and is the last of our North Macedonia v England betting tips.
Rice has already netted a couple of times for the Gunners this season and he can add to his three international goals against a team that have conceded 13 in their three games against England and Italy.
Match Info
Where: Tose Proeski Arena, Skopje
When: 19:45, Monday 20th November
How to watch: Channel 4
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
