Michael Owen: England Fancied At Wembley

The top two in the group go head to head as England host Belgium at Wembley. England were a bit flat in their 1-1 draw against Denmark last month, however, Thursday night’s 3-0 defeat of Wales is the perfect springboard to go into this one. With Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jack Grealish pushing for starts, I can see the Three Lions grinding out a result in what, I expect, will be a tough game.

What a result for Northern Ireland! They are one step closer to Euro 2021 after a win on penalties against Bosnia on Thursday night. They will go into this full of confidence against an Austrian side that have won one and lost one of their opening Nations League matches. I don’t think there’s much between these two, and with Northern Ireland playing 120 minutes on Thursday, I think they might have to settle for a point here.

Scotland booked their place in a playoff for Euro 2021 with a penalties victory against Israel. The Scots were missing Tierney, Christie and Armstrong for that match and the trio will also miss this one. Slovakia won their fixture at the expense of the Republic of Ireland, also on penalties. Both these sides are lacking a bit in front of goal, but I think Scotland are improving and could edge this.

Despite being the better side, Ireland lost out to Slovakia on Thursday. They now welcome Wales to Dublin in the hope of shaking off that defeat. Wales’ run out against England will have given them a bit of a boost in terms of fitness, so they should be ready for this. There’s not much between these two and I’m expecting a typically competitive match with honours even at the end.