England v Ivory Coast preview: Southgate’s Pre-World Cup plan on track

England continue their unbeaten streak and look confident going into their first ever tie with Ivory Coast.

We preview the game below and look at the latest betting odds.

England on fire

England continued their journey to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with another win at Wembley against Switzerland at the weekend. Victory extended England’s unbeaten run (within 90 minutes) to a record 21 games with 17 wins and 4 draws across all competitions, which is the longest run in the Three Lion’s history. England have only lost one of their last 22 games at Wembley and have not conceded more than once in each of those games.

England’s 2-1 win against Switzerland laid the ideal foundations for the upcoming tie with Ivory Coast as Gareth Southgate’s side look to go one step further in a major tournament later this year.

Harry Kane scored a penalty at the weekend to level Sir Bobby Charlton as second all-time top scorer with 49 international goals and is now only 5 goals away from becoming the greatest goal scorer his nation has ever seen. Kane’s goal also marked England’s 100th penalty (excluding penalty shootouts), 20% of which have come under the management of Gareth Southgate. Kane is 5/6 to find the net against the Ivorians.

Conor Gallagher was awarded man of the match, while Marc Guehi, Tyrick Mitchell and Kyle Walker-Peters all earned their first senior caps. Jordan Pickford was composed with the ball in goal and made good decisions, so he will be tough to get past for Ivory Coast.

Considering England’s recent domination, backing them to win both halves could be smart with enhanced odds at 3/1.

Ivory Coast not expected to cause a problem

This tie between England and Ivory Coast will be the first ever meeting between the two sides in international football history. Patrice Beaumelle’s side come off the back of a close defeat to France in Paris but only have one win from their last five friendly encounters. It has been a disappointing year of football for the African nation, due to their early exit from the Africa Cup of Nations in the quarter finals and their failure to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.

The Three Lions will be aiming to give the home crowd something to cheer about and continue the momentum in the lead up to the World Cup. Southgate has revealed that Emile Smith Rowe could be back in contention for this tie, and we are to expect a couple of rotations among the squad with Harry Maguire, Declan Rice, Raheem Stirling and Jack Grealish all fit to play. This will be the final time England play before they find out their opponents in Qatar.

The visitors will need to pull off a huge upset if they are to beat the 13/2 odds, as England are the clear favourites at 2/5.

Check out all the latest football betting odds at William Hill