There is a lot of positivity around the national team after the World Cup and it is difficult to see the Three Lions getting off to anything but a good start to their qualifying campaign, but it may be tougher than many expect due to the Czechs' recent form and several withdrawals in Southgate's squad. His XI should still be more than capable of getting a result in entertaining fashion in front of the home fans.

Best bet:

It may look simple on the face of it, but the price available made it too tempting to go elsewhere. The initial preference was to back the visitors to get on the score sheet, but the 7/4 on both teams scoring on Friday offers better value with us still expecting the hosts to win.

With injuries to the defence - Luke Shaw, John Stones and Trent Alexander-Arnold among the absentees - Southgate's defence could be the weakness. Jordan Pickford has been out of sorts of late in goal, while a pairing of Michael Keane and Harry Maguire with attacking full-backs Ben Chilwell and Kyle Walker does contain frailties and it is down to Czech Republic to take advantage of them.

Granted, England's defence has improved under Southgate but the selection issues and price here makes this at least worth a small play. If you are not sold on this option though, England to score in both halves at 13/10 is also worth considering.

Goals/Stats:

A man in fine form for his club this season and he has often been criticised for not producing the goods for his country, which could be why he is nearly 2/1 to score anytime. The Man City forward is likely to start in a front three with Harry Kane and Jadon Sancho and he can do his usual trick of sneaking in at the back post with late runs to end the Czechs' recent clean sheet run.

Sterling has been a key player for Man City this term, scoring 19 goals and assisting 16 in 40 appearances, so it is a wonder he has scored just four goals for his country, two against Spain in October, and he can add to this tally on his 48th appearance.

RequestABet: