Albania v England predictions: Three Lions value for an entertaining victory

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for the 2022 World Cup qualifier between Albania and England on Sunday.

Where to watch

ITV, 5pm Sunday

Best bet

England to win & over 3.5 goals
1pt 12-5 Betfred

Team news

Albania
Goalkeeper Etrit Berisha should keep his place after a clean sheet in Andorra. Attacking midfielder Qazim Laci could come into the starting 11.

England
Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are out and Kyle Walker is a doubt. Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Declan Rice, all rested against San Marino, should start.

Match preview

England eased to a 5-0 win over San Marino in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier and they can rack up another stylish victory in their second Group I fixture away to Albania.

The tests for the Three Lions get progressively more difficult during this international break and Wednesday's home game against Poland is the most competitive of the three.

However, Gareth Southgate's level-headed approach means his players are unlikely to get ahead of themselves and another professional performance can be expected in Tirana.

Few significant lessons can be learned from the Wembley win over San Marino although Southgate was particularly pleased with his players' efforts to win back the ball on the rare occasions the minnows gained possession.

The 5-0 margin could have been far wider but for a string of fine saves from visiting goalkeeper Elia Benedettini as England racked up 32 attempts on goal.

The recalled Jesse Lingard had ten of those shots while James Ward-Prowse's first international goal was followed by a brace from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and strikes from Raheem Sterling and debutant Ollie Watkins.

Three goals in the first 31 minutes ensured a predictably leisurely evening for England and Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Declan Rice were among the unused substitutes, boosting their chances of a start in Tirana.

Albania also made a winning start to their qualifying campaign as an excellent first-half strike from Grasshoppers midfielder Ermir Lenjani gave them a well-deserved 1-0 victory in Andorra.

The Albanians dominated the first half but were not entirely secure at the back against a team who held them to a 2-2 draw in Euro 2020 qualifying in November 2019.

Two of Albania's six Nations League games ended goalless last year and bookmakers are expecting a low-scoring clash with England.

However, it may pay to go against the tide and back the visitors to win in a match featuring over 3.5 goals.

Albania's final two Nations League results were home wins over Kazakhstan (3-1) and Belarus (3-2) and only France's Olivier Giroud and Turkey's Cenk Tosun scored more goals than striker Sokol Cikalleshi's four in their Euro 2020 qualifying group.

The hosts, who beat Iceland 4-2 and Moldova 4-0 during that campaign, could contribute to the goal tally in Tirana but there is also a decent chance of a wide-margin win for the visitors.

England swaggered through European Championship qualifying, beating the Czech Republic 5-0 at home and completing goal-laden doubles over Montenegro (5-1 and 7-0), Bulgaria (4-0 and 6-0) and Kosovo (5-3 and 4-0).

They were less prolific in last year's Nations League but still signed off with a 4-0 win over Iceland, also beating Wales and Ireland 3-0 in friendlies in 2020, and they look a big price to cut loose on their first away trip of 2021.

Key stat

Albania have scored 16 goals in their last eight home internationals.

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