England to claim easy Wembley win

World Cup qualifying Group F
ITV, 5pm Sunday

England have made a strong start to World Cup qualifying with ten points from four matches and they should have little trouble beating Lithuania at Wembley.

The Three Lions have won each of their last 11 home qualifiers by at least two goals, which points to a punt on Gareth Southgate's side to cover the Asian handicap line.

A two-goal win will see stakes returned and is preferred to the regular handicap which requires the long odds-on favourites to win by at least three, something England were unable to do in their 2-0 success over Malta in October.

However, that margin of success was the least England deserved and the fact they have kept nine clean sheets in those 11 wins always helps when chasing down big handicaps.

One of those games was a 4-0 victory over Lithuania in European Championship qualifying in 2015. The away match finished 3-0 in England's favour.

In those two dominant displays England forced 22 shots on target and the minnows had only two. Roy Hodgson's men scored through six different players as well as an own goal.

Southgate has some senior figures sidelined but it should not matter, particularly with Liverpool's Adam Lallana and Tottenham's Dele Alli playing so well for club and country.

Alli's man-of-the-match performance in Wednesday's unlucky 1-0 loss to Germany highlighted his growing importance to England which is beginning to match his key role at Spurs.

The more advanced number ten position earmarked by Southgate suits Alli perfectly and those looking for a first goalscorer should head towards the 20-year-old. He has 14 Premier League goals this term and ten of those have come since Christmas.

Correct-score punters are pointed in the direction of 3-0 and 4-0 with Lithuania going backwards after a decent start to qualifying which saw them earns draws against Slovenia and Scotland and secure a 2-0 success over Malta with goals in the final 15 minutes.

Lithuania were thumped 4-0 in Slovakia in their last qualifier and that was followed by a 3-0 thrashing to Czech Republic in a friendly on Wednesday when their squad absentee issues were laid bare.

Edgaras Jankauskas is missing both first-choice centre-backs Edwin Girdvainis and Vytautas Andriuskevicius because of injury and left-back Georgas Freidgeimas is suspended which means it is possible the Klimavicius brothers will play at the heart of defence.

Arunas, at 34 seven years older than sibling Linas, was released from a trial with Hearts in 2009 and is unlikely to have improved, while Jankauskas's domestic-based players lack competitive minutes.

The Lithuanian A Lyga is only three games into the new season and England should maintain their position at the top of Group F.

Recommendation
England -2 on Asian handicap
2pts 8-13 188Bet

Bet on this game at Soccerbase.com

Team news
England
Ben Gibson has replaced the injured Chris Smalling in the squad. Gary Cahill is suspended and Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Jordan Henderson are among the first-team regulars unavailable.

Lithuania
Edwin Girdvainis and Vytautas Andriuskevicius are injured and Georgas Freidgeimas is suspended.

Key stat
England are unbeaten in their last 33 qualifying matches under five different managers, winning 25.

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