England have turned the corner as far as international football goes, and there is no doubt that there is a lot of talk about this team, both from the fans at home and from those around the world who have seen the change. England are a young, fresh and very talented team, who are likely to challenge for trophies for the next few years with the youthfulness of their squad.

After reaching the semi finals of the World Cup last summer, and giving themselves something to build on, they then went on to reach the Nations League finals, which take place in June. Now they begin their quest to qualify for the Euro 2020 tournament that begins next summer, and as we stand right now, England are rightfully amongst the favourites to win the tournament.

England have been drawn in a group of five for this competition, allowing them to miss the round of games taking place in June to play in the Nations League. The top two go through from the group, but there is not a team in this group that has the ability to challenge the Three Lions, and anything other than finishing top would be seen as a huge disappointment.

The team they face first on Friday night, the Czech Republic, look as though they are the most likely team to chase them home. This is far from a vintage Czech team, like we have seen in the past, but they look capable of playing well enough to beat the rest in here. The other teams are Bulgaria, who are the likely challengers for second, Montenegro and Kosovo. The last two named should give England the chance to claim easy victories, although travelling away to those countries is not going to be the easiest of trips.

All in all, there appears little for England to be worries about in this group, and they should be plenty good enough to beat their four opponents with ease.

The Czech Republic will fancy their chances of finishing second, although Bulgaria will too think they have a chance of claiming that place. There is probably not too much between them due to the decline in talent that the Czech Republic have at their disposal. They do still have a handful of decent players though, and while they are unlikely to cause any kind of threat to England, those players are probably good enough to see them through in second position.

One thing this group does have is a couple of tough away games. The top three, England, Czech Republic and Bulgaria should all have enough to beat Montenegro and Kosovo, but they are not nice places to visit. They cannot let that distract them, and must remain professional to get a result and get back home. Those two banana skins could mean the difference between qualifying and failure for the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, if either of them should slip up in their away games.

England vs Czech Republic Betting Tips

There is a really good feeling surrounding this England team at the moment, and after recent performances that should come as no surprise. Prior to the World Cup things felt a little stale, and people had lost interest in the team, but that certainly cannot be said now. People are behind this team and the players in it, and the country is hungry for success as we saw with the parties last summer.

England will be aiming to do a lot more than just qualify for the Euro 2020 finals, they will be looking to go far in the tournament, and potentially win it. There is no doubt they have enough young talent coming through to put together a squad that can challenge and with luck on their side, who knows what will happen next year.

As far as their qualification group goes, this should be a straight forward task for a team this good, and I am expecting England to get off to the best possible start here, with a comfortable home win. To increase the odds on offer from the bookmakers, I am backing England on the -1 handicap line, which requires them to win by two goals or more, something I think they will do. This young, attacking minded team is far superior to their opponents on Friday, and I think we will see England show that in front of their home fans.

I’m expecting a comfortable night for the Three Lions, and backing them to take this game with ease.

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