England’s World Cup adventure begins in earnest on Saturday – not against Croatia, but against New Zealand in the first of two warm-up friendlies before the real thing.
Thomas Tuchel is without four Arsenal players this weekend. Saka, Rice, Eze and Madueke have all been given extra time off following their involvement in last week’s Champions League final and won’t join the squad until next week.
Everybody has an opinion on how it goes. We fed the predicted lineups into Machine Football‘s AI-powered model and let the supercomputer do the talking. Here’s what came back – four legs, one big price, all with real data and backed by Betfair odds.
View 4 ImagesHow England are set to line-up against New Zealand in the World Cup warm-up game(Image: Machine Football)
Look, this is England against a team ranked 97th in the world. Bellingham leads the attack – a player the model places in the top 5% for dribbling across every player in world football and number one in La Liga for his archetype. Around him, Gordon has just signed for Barcelona and arrives in Tampa with something to prove before his Nou Camp adventure begins. Rashford, with his club future still uncertain, has even more reason to put on a show. Back England to win comfortably and score a few while they’re at it.
He scores against everyone. He’s the England captain, this is probably his last World Cup, and he’s in the form of his life — averaging 2.15 shots on target per game in the Bundesliga this season. If he starts, New Zealand’s defence is not going to stop him. Simple as that..
Here’s one you might not have thought about. Did you know Rashford takes Barcelona’s corners? Because the supercomputer did – he averaged 4.31 per game in La Liga this season. With New Zealand sitting deep and England spending most of the night in their half, Rashford is going to be standing over that left corner flag all evening. Six England corners looks a strong pick.
View 4 ImagesThe opposition that England will likely face in the friendly ahead of the World Cup (Image: Machine Football)
New Zealand’s central midfielder plays his club football at Swansea – and he had an absolute nightmare for bookings this season. Twelve yellow cards in 36 Championship games. One every three matches. His job on Saturday is to try and stop Bellingham and Mainoo, two of the most relentless pressers in world football, while England are running rings around him. The bookies clearly haven’t looked at his disciplinary record. The supercomputer has.
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Four legs, all backed by 2025/26 data from Machine Football. Stack them on Betfair’s Bet Builder for around 10/1. Always check the Betfair Sportsbook for live prices before placing.
18+ | UK only | begambleaware.org. Prices are approximate and subject to change.
View 4 ImagesEngland (4-2-3-1): Pickford, Livramento, Stones, Guéhi, O’Reilly, Mainoo, Henderson, Rashford, Bellingham, Gordon, Kane.
New Zealand (4-3-3): Crocombe; Cacace, Boxall, Surman, Bindon; Bell, Stamenic, Sarpreet; Eli Just,
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