Prediction: England vs Switzerland

Tuesday’s match against Switzerland at Wembley will be a perfect opportunity for England to celebrate Euro 2016 qualification in front of the home fans and attempt to edge closer to a perfect qualifying campaign. The Rossocrociati scored three late goals against Slovenia to ensure they remained on the road to France and now arrive in London in excellent spirits.

England national team rarely have problems reaching major tournaments, but they have a habit of falling short at the tournament finals. The Three Lions have now secured another appearance at the European Championship finals, but the manner in which they qualified for Euro 2016 is likely to raise expectations among the fans. In all fairness, England did not have such a difficult qualifying group, but seven straight victories and mere three goals conceded in the process have got to be regarded an extraordinary achievement. And with the Three Lions virtually securing qualification with four games to go, Roy Hodgson was able to already start experimenting with his side, with preparations for the Euro 2016 officially starting after the 6-0 hammering of San Marino. After a number of fringe players were given a chance to shine in Serravalle, the boss will continue to rotate, with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane, Fabian Delph and Theo Walcott among those expected to start. Manchester United star Michael Carrick was forced to withdraw through a calf injury, and that could mean second successive start for Swansea’s Jonjo Shelvey, who impressed vs San Marino.

With three games to go, Switzerland are in a very good position to clinch automatic qualifying berth, but Euro 2016 qualification was far from forgone conclusion just few days ago. While many expected the Rossocrociati to get the job done against out-of-sorts Slovenia, they experienced all sorts of problems in that match and entered the final stage two goals down. Things did not look too promising when Josip Drmic and Breel Embolo came on midway through the second half, but Vladimir Petkovic’s side then produced a stunning comeback, scoring three goals in the final 15 minutes to record a very important victory. The players did not get much sleep in the aftermath of said encounter, not only due to celebrations, but also thanks to an unexpected visit from the anti-doping control, although that is unlikely to have caused any serious problems for Vladimir Petkovic’s men. Switzerland will be looking to prove their worth when they face the Three Lions at Wembley and if there is a team in this group that can spoil England’s perfect record, it is definitely the Rossocrociati. The team have got plenty of attacking potential at their disposal and there is every chance Josip Drmic and Breel Embolo will be rewarded with starting places for their role in the win over Slovenia.

Conclusion

England have been scoring goals for fun in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign and we can expect the trend to continue, although keeping yet another clean sheet may prove a tall order given the quality of Switzerland’s attack. Therefore, we believe that backing both teams to score is the right thing to do.

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best Odds: 11/10

Bookmaker: William Hill