England v Scotland predictions: Stout England to repel Scottish invaders

Free Euro 2020 football tips, best bets and analysis for England v Scotland in Group D on Friday.

Where to watch

ITV, Friday 8pm

Best bet

England and under 3.5 goals
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England eased the pressure with their 1-0 success over Croatia and should pick up another three points against Scotland, who lack the attacking quality to make an impact.

Team news

England
Harry Maguire (ankle) is in contention and Jack Grealish should be available despite missing training with a minor issue on Tuesday.

Scotland
Kieran Tierney has been declared fit for Scotland after missing the defeat to Czech Republic and should start in a back three. Che Adams is pushing for a start.

Match preview

Gareth Southgate's youthful England team produced a mature display to see off Croatia in their Euro 2020 opener and should have too much quality for Scotland in their eagerly anticipated Wembley encounter.

Winning a tournament is about peaking at the right time and there is room for improvement from England, who played within themselves for large parts of their opening game.

The Three Lions made a fast start against Croatia but were unable to maintain a high tempo on a sweltering Sunday afternoon and had to wait for a moment of inspiration from Kalvin Phillips to unlock the door and set them on their way to a vital victory.

Conditions will be different against the Scots with a cool, wet evening offering both teams the opportunity of playing at a faster pace.

Scotland will try to disrupt England's rhythm at every opportunity but they also need to offer a threat in a contest crucial to their hopes of reaching the round of 16.

Steve Clarke has the option of going with a front two by pairing Lyndon Dykes with Che Adams and Kieran Tierney, who missed the 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic with a calf strain, should return to the team.

Scotland had invested a lot of their hopes in getting a positive result against the Czechs and it will be fascinating to see how they deal with the mental pressure of taking on England with their backs against the wall.

They had some positive moments in the opening game – winning the shot count 19 to ten – but were ruthlessly punished by Czech striker Patrik Schick, who produced a superb header and a stunning long-range finish.

Finding similar moments of quality will be key if the Scots are to get out of the group, but goalscoring opportunities are likely to be hard to come by against an England team who conceded just two shots on target in their opening game.

England did not create an awful lot against Croatia and will need to improve the intensity and variety of their attacking play by the knockout stages when they could find themselves going head-to-head with France or Portugal.

However, the time to tinker and refresh is likely to come after the Scotland game when, if all goes to plan, qualification has already been secured.

Until that moment Southgate will be fully concentrated on points rather than performance and his disciplined side will be quite happy to move forward with another low-scoring success.

Key stat

England have won their last five games without scoring more than twice in any of them

Inside info

England

Penalty taker Harry Kane
Free-kick wizard Kieran Trippier
Set-piece aerial threat John Stones
Card magnet Tyrone Mings

Scotland

Penalty taker Ryan Christie/Lyndon Dykes
Free-kick wizardAndy Robertson
Set-piece aerial threatGrant Hanley
Card magnetJohn McGinn

Lowdown

Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Fans allowed 22,500
Time Zone BST
Weather Light rain, max 15C
FIFA rankings England (4), Scotland (44)

Bet builder

Under four goals
England were happy to grind out a 1-0 victory over Croatia and could settle for a low-scoring success over the Scots, who have failed to scored in three of their last four matches at the European Championships.

Harry Kane to score anytime
Harry Kane was nowhere near his best against Croatia but he will be aware of the need to improve and looks the man most likely to break Scotland's hearts.

John McGinn to be carded
Scotland will be under instructions to get tight to England in midfield and a lot of the destructive work could be done by Aston Villa's John McGinn, who received 12 yellow cards in the Premier League this season.

Guide price 13-2

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