England v Iran: Three Lions could struggle to break down Persian Stars
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World Cup 2022: England vs Iran odds, preview and tips
Just eight days after the Premier League was put on hold for five weeks, England’s World Cup campaign gets under way against Iran on Monday afternoon in Qatar.
The England winning odds are 1/3 to get their Group B campaign off to a flying start, while Carlos Queiroz’s side are 11/1.
You can click on the links for the latest England and Wales news, while we have looked at all four nations in our World Cup Group B guide.
England are 8/1 fourth favourites in the World Cup winner odds and Harry Kane is 7/1 joint favourite with Kylian Mbappe to win the Golden Boot again, but can they get off to a winning start?
England vs Iran form
The Three Lions reached the last four in 2018 and last year’s European Championship final, but the wave of optimism generated by those two tournaments seems to be over following a dismal Nations League campaign during which they failed to win any of their six games and were consequently relegated.
Two draws against Germany and just one point from the games against Italy could perhaps be forgiven but 4-0 and 1-0 defeats by Hungary, a team they thrashed in Budapest in World Cup qualifying, set alarm bells ringing.
Clearly, Iran do not possess the same quality as Germany and European champions Italy, who have both won the World Cup four times, but England have a history of struggling against minnows in the group stage (Morocco 1986, Egypt 1990, Nigeria 2002, Algeria 2010, Costa Rica 2014 and Tunisia 2018).
In the Diary Room hot seat today: it's the skipper! 👌@HKane joins us to talk vests, action from training and Monday's game against Iran. pic.twitter.com/IlTE3yR6zs
— England (@England) November 19, 2022
All of those matches involved three goals or fewer and with England on a six-game winless run, any kind of win will suffice ahead of arguably tougher games against Wales and USA.
They are 7/10 to win and under 3.5 match goals or 13/8 to win either 1-0 or 2-0 but Gareth Southgate’s side to win by a one-goal margin at 11/5 catches the eye in the England v Iran betting odds.
Iran, embroiled in social unrest since a young woman died in police custody, endured a chaotic campaign in which coach Dragan Skokic was sacked four months before the start of the World Cup despite winning 15 of his 18 games in charge and leading the Persian Stars to a third successive appearance at the finals.
Queiroz, formerly Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man at Manchester United, took over in July and remains unbeaten in his three games, 1-0 wins against Uruguay and Nicaragua either side of a 1-1 draw with World Cup hopefuls Senegal.
We're joined by @ericdier at the team's training base, as he catches up with the media! 🎙 https://t.co/ly6RIyePye
— England (@England) November 19, 2022
Iran, though, have won just two of their 15 games at World Cup finals and have never beaten a European nation, so a draw would be viewed as a great success for a team that finished top of their qualifying group, two points clear of South Korea.
The Three Lions are evens to be leading at half-time and full-time or 21/10 to win both halves, but Draw HT/England FT could be the way to go at 12/5 in the World Cup odds.
Iran lost 1-0 to Argentina in 2014 and by the same scoreline against Spain in Russia, so an England win by that scoreline is 18/5 in the World Cup betting.
England vs Iran head to head
England will be in uncharted territory when they take on Iran for the first time, although a couple of players will be known to Southgate, especially Mehdi Taremi, who has enjoyed three prolific seasons with Porto for whom he has scored 42 goals in 78 appearances.
Only Mo Salah and Kylian Mbappe scored more goals than Taremi’s five in the group stages of this year’s Champions League, so he is one of the men to watch.
England vs Iran team news
James Maddison has been ruled out of England’s opener after failing to recover from a knee problem he sustained in the first half of Leicester’s win at West Ham.
Can @sterling7 and @kylewalker2 agree on anything? 😬@BudweiserUK and Conor Coady found out in the #AgreeToDisagree challenge…pic.twitter.com/p6iVfJJCZm
— England (@England) November 17, 2022
Defender Kyle Walker has missed Manchester City’s last six games after undergoing groin surgery and is unlikely to be in the starting line-up, although club team-mate Kalvin Phillips, yet to start a game this season, is fit having got 40 minutes under his belt in the Carabao Cup victory over Chelsea.
Iran striker Sardar Azmoun has been out with a calf injury he sustained in the warm-up for the Champions League game against Porto on October 4, but is fit.
England vs Iran goalscorer odds
Kane is the 7/1 co-favourite in the World Cup top scorer odds, so it is little surprise to see the England captain is 23/10 to get the ball rolling against the Iranians, 10/11 to find the net any time or 4/1 to bag at least at double.
The Tottenham striker won the Golden Boot at Russia four years ago, was third at Euro 2020 and scored the most goals in European qualifying with 12 goals.
England failed to score in four of their six Nations League games, but they will be determined to get off to a fast start against the Iranians.
Marcus Rashford made the England World Cup squad and is 7/2 to break the deadlock or 6/4 in the anytime market, the same odds as Raheem Sterling who has been struggling with Chelsea this season.
Mason Mount scored in the thrilling 3-3 draw with Germany in England’s last match and is 6/1 and 13/5 in the two markets.
Taremi is 12/1 to draw first blood or 9/2 to get on the scoresheet in the World Cup betting.
Match Info
Where: Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan
When: 13:00, Monday 21st November
How to watch: BBC
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
