Thomas Tuchel’s reign as England manager begins on Friday night with the first World Cup 2026 qualifier, against Albania at Wembley.
With Gareth Southgate having led England to the Euro 2024 final last year, Tuchel knows his mission is to go all the way in USA, Mexico and Canada next summer and he’ll want to get off to a positive start in a very winnable qualification group where Latvia, Serbia and Andorra are the other opponents.
Ahead of the game Paddy Power ambassador Joe Cole joined us to discuss the game and serve up two England v Albania betting tips.
England v Albania tips
CORRECT SCORE BET: England 3-1 Albania
BET BUILDER: England to win, both teams to score: Yes. Harry Kane to score 2+ goals
WHEN: Friday, March 21, 7.45pm
WHERE: Wembley Stadium, London
TV: ITV 1
A German in charge of England! I don’t know what price Paddy would have given that a few years ago, but it would have been very, very generous.
Thomas Tuchel has picked his first squad since coming in and it’s quite interesting and it really lays out what he’s going to be looking for. I think he wants physicality, aggression and strong mentality.
When Lee Carsley took over as caretaker manager for those six games last year, there was a real move to possession-based football and I was actually quite excited by it.
So hopefully this is a theme which continues and there’s been some kind of forward planning from the FA.
I’d hoped they said, “Lee, we’re going to go in this direction, we’re going to go for this type of manager, so could you play this type of football?” But it seems like they said “go on, you have a go and just wait while we bring in Thomas Tuchel”.
I think the football you’ll see from Tuchel will be very, very organized, powerful and aggressive. And that’s not a bad thing. I think it will be results-driven, not process-driven.
I’m going to predict a scoreline of England 3-1 Albania.
I’ve got a sneaky feeling you might see Reece James in midfield next to Declan Rice. When a manager comes in he always wants to play players that he knows, so I look at that Chelsea team that Tuchel managed and obviously Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount are not involved, they’re not close to playing for England at the moment.
But Reece James is in the squad and he’s only just coming back into the fold, so I think he might get the nod in the centre of the park which would be interesting.
I think England win this game, but Albania will score because there’s a little bit of work to do with the defence for England. Tuchel needs to get England good and solid at the back.
I also don’t think Albania are the pushovers that they have been in the past, I think there’s been a growth of football there, but you would expect England to win.
I’m also going with captain Harry Kane to score a brace.
- JOE’S ENGLAND V ALBANIA BET BUILDER TIPS COME TO 10/1. CLICK HERE TO ADD TO YOUR PADDY POWER BETSLIP
England v Albania tips
CORRECT SCORE BET: England 3-1 Albania
BET BUILDER: England to win, both teams to score: Yes. Harry Kane to score 2+ goals
All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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