John Barnes’ England vs DR Congo Boosted Bet Builder

England legend John Barnes is part of the Betfred team as our official World Cup Ambassador throughout the summer in North America. He’s providing us with his views and insight on all things England, plus anything and everything going on in the world of football over the next two months.

He spoke to our team ahead of the Three Lions' huge round of 32 clash and gave us his England vs DR Congo Bet Builder that has been kindly boosted by the Betfred traders.

*Remember you can choose your own predictions and check out all the live World Cup Odds on our betting markets over on betfred.com.

We've got a brilliant new Bet Builder product here at Betfred, with loads of great new markets and our amazing Sub Switch offer, meaning if your player is subbed off, your bet stays on! Not only that but now we have reached the knockout rounds, Extra Time counts on all Sub Switch markets...

England vs DR Congo Odds

We spoke to John this week after the Panama group game victory confirmed DR Congo as their Round of 32 opponents and we asked him what his overall thoughts were of the game?

“It went the way I thought it was going to go. I don’t know why we expected anything different because the players we have are strong and in the second-half of games we can overpower teams and that’s what we saw against Croatia and Panama. 

"I don’t expect us to play any differently for the rest of the tournament, but is it going to be enough to take us all the way to the final? I think Thomas Tuchel’s gone the right way about it because we’re not the best team and we shouldn’t be making it to the final, so I think this way of playing is our best chance of getting to the final. 

"The likes of Phil Foden and Cole Palmer could have helped us unlock the likes of Ghana and Panama, but the further you go down the line against the likes of Brazil, Argentina and France, that’s when you’ll need the strong players such as Jude Bellingham and Elliot Anderson. 

"We’re not going to set the world alight in terms of our performances, but we can still do well.”

John Barnes

We then asked Barnesy what sort of a threat DR Congo could pose against the Three Lions?

“I’m pleased it was Congo and not Senegal. Senegal have already beaten us, but looking at Congo, they’ve got some good players including Yoane Wissa and it’s going to be difficult because of the heat, but it’s a game that we should navigate comfortably. 

"Wissa is a good goalscorer and I think England aren’t as strong as they used to be defensively.  That’s a reason why I don’t think they’ll win the World Cup. Panama got a lot of opportunities on the break because Elliot Anderson was isolated in the midfield and hopefully that’s something that’s put right.”

John Barnes

And lastly, we asked the 62-year-old what changes he would make for the game if any?

“For the big games, I think Marcus Rashford is probably ahead of Anthony Gordon now. Gordon’s direct but Rashford poses more of a goal threat and then on the right-side, it would be [Bukayo] Saka over [Noni] Madueke and I believe that’s fairly obvious. 

"One thing I will say is that I want the pundits to stop saying that we don’t need to play with two defensive midfielders. We were conceding chances against Panama and they’re not a great team. France has Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot and they’re the best team in the tournament.”

John Barnes

We then asked John for his Bet Builder picks which were as follows:

England under 2.5 goals (90 mins)

This has landed in seven out of the last nine games that England have played, with them only surpassing this line against Croatia and Costa Rica.

Harry Kane to score (Sub Switch)

Kane scored his third of the tournament and a record 82nd for the Three Lions against Panama.

Elliot Anderson 2+ Fouls committed (Sub Switch)

Barnes tipped up this selection against Ghana and it landed with the Nottingham Forest man committing two fouls against the Black Stars.

Under 10.5 Corners (90 mins)

There have been under 10.5 corners in five of the last 10 England matches and this should be a tight affair in the knockout stages.

The four selections come in at just over 6/1, but our Betfred traders have gone all out and boosted Barnes' Bet Builder to a massive 10/1! You can load it straight to your slip by clicking on the banner below...

Don't like John's selections and fancy building your own? Well we have a great offer on that gives you a £10 free Bet Builder when you place a minimum £10 Bet Builder of your own.