England vs Albania Prediction: New era to start with a bang

Thomas Tuchel's first game in charge of England sees the Three Lions take on Albania at Wembley on Friday night (19:45, live on ITV1) in a Fifa World Cup qualifier.

The 51-year-old will be expected to steer England to the 2026 tournament in North America with minimal fuss, and the German will be eager to get off to a winning start. Read on for my England vs Albania predictions, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Football Odds

Team News

Tuchel's first England squad sprung a few surprises with former Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson being recalled, while Dan Burn received his first selection.

Cole Palmer's withdrawal meant that Morgan Gibbs-White was a late addition, while the usual suspects of Harry Kane and Jordan Pickford are expected to start.

As for the visitors, Elseid Hysaj is sidelined through injury, along with Mario Mitaj, while Chelsea's Armando Broja - on-loan at Everton - and Rey Manaj will return to the fold here, after both were unavailable for selection back in November.

England vs Albania Odds

England are huge favourites for the game at 1/8, giving them an implied win probability of 88.9%, with the draw available at 11/2 and the Albania win is 16/1.

Unsurprisingly, Kane leads the anytime goalscorer market at 7/10, followed by Spurs' Dominic Solanke at 21/20.

England -1 @ 1/2

It's not a shock that Betfred see England as huge favourites for this game as the Three Lions beat Albania 2-0 and 5-0 in their World Cup qualifiers back in 2021.

The Three Lions covered a -1 handicap in five of their last six matches under caretaker boss Lee Carsley and will be out to impress their new manager here. In addition, Albania have failed to score in three of their last five games.

The visitors picked up just one point at the Euros last summer, and since then they’ve won just two of their following six outings, finishing bottom of their Nations League group.

It feels like this should be a straightforward victory for Tuchel's side, and that's what I'm predicting.

Harry Kane to score 2 or more @ 7/2

Tuchel will no doubt be rubbing his hands together at the prospect of working with Kane, who continues to shine for both club and country.

The Bayern Munich marksman has scored six in his last 10 starts for his country and his return for his club this term has been phenomenal - a staggering 43 goal involvements in 37 games.

Kane has scored four goals in two games against Friday's opponents, and with the 31-year-old looking to add to his tally of 69 goals, I think backing the former Spurs man to score two or more appeals at 7/2.

Offers

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