England vs Panama Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

England opened their World Cup campaign on Monday when they faced off against Tunisia, and despite a very bright start from Gareth Southgate’s charges, they left it incredibly late to make the most of their dominance.

Multiple chances were spurned in the first half and despite the introduction of VAR it seems that two clear penalties were still missed. England kept pressing though, and after Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marcus Rashford were introduced in the second half their tempo became too high for Tunisia to manage. Eventually Harry Kane found his second breakthrough of the night, nodding it past Tunisia’s substitute goalkeeper in the 90th minute to claim a 2-1 win.

It may have required a late winner, but the overall performance from England was a promising one. It was made even more promising after watching the likes of Germany, Brazil, Spain, and France all struggle in their opening games, and they will be hoping to build on that performance against Panama.

Panama are competing in their first ever World Cup campaign this year, and their opening match went a similar way to what most expected. They were well beaten 3-0 by Belgium, although the scoreline was perhaps a little flattering to Roberto Martinez’ side.

The Belgians were slow and laboured in their build up play, and it took a stunning volley from Dries Mertens shortly after half-time to open the scoring. With Panama pushing a bit further out this opened up the room for Belgium to exploit though, and a brace from Romelu Lukaku sealed a comfortable three points.

More of the same is expected here. Panama offered next to nothing going forward against Belgium and it’s unlikely they’ll threaten the England back line much. Equally, they will be a difficult side to break down at the other end.

However, Panama tend to collapse once they do go behind. They showed this against Belgium, and have also been thrashed by Switzerland and the United States in the past year. This makes an England -1.0 Asian Handicap look the perfect choice here.

It could take some time for England to break through though. Panama were level at the break against Belgium, and it’s likely to be a similar situation in Novgorod. The second half is likely to be when most of the action takes place, so we’re also backing Draw/England for the Half-Time/Full-Time result along with a 2-0 correct score predictions.

There are some concerns for England, and not just that Gareth Southgate has managed to dislocate his shoulder. Dele Alli picked up a knock against Tunisia and could miss out here, and Raheem Sterling’s poor showing could see him dropped to the bench. On the plus side, Ruben Loftus-Cheek impressed from the bench and Marcus Rashford is expected to take Sterling’s place. The young Manchester United man scored against Costa Rica in their warm up friendly and will be keen to make an impact, so we’re backing him in the anytime goalscorer market.

England Predicted Lineup: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Henderson, Trippier, Rose, Lingard, Loftus-Cheek, Rashford, Kane

Panama Predicted Lineup: Penedo, Murillo, Torres, Escobar, DAvis, Gomez, Barcenas, Cooper, Godoy, Rodriguez, Perez