England return to Wembley tonight with the bar suddenly set quite a bit higher than usual.
Thomas Tuchel’s side produced a stunning 7-0 win over Croatia on Saturday. Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka scored twice each, while Anthony Gordon, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers also found the net. It was England’s biggest-ever Nations League victory.
That followed a 2-0 victory over Czechia in Prague only a week ago, when Gordon and Kane scored after half-time.
Czechia have since lost 3-1 to Spain and remain without a point in Group A3. England, meanwhile, are chasing a third consecutive victory as they try to keep pace with the world champions at the top.
Another seven would probably be greedy. But after Rijeka, England should be looking to make another statement.
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What are the best betting tips for England vs Czechia?
England to win & over 2.5 goals
England have gone from struggling for rhythm to scoring nine goals across their last two matches.
The performance against Croatia was comfortably the best of the Tuchel era. England were aggressive without the ball, moved it quickly when they regained possession and punished virtually every defensive mistake.
Tuchel has made clear that he isn’t expecting another 7-0 tonight. What he does expect is the same attitude and intensity.
“That’s the standard.”
England also have an excellent record against tonight’s opposition. They have won six of their eight competitive meetings with Czechia and have never lost to them at Wembley, winning six and drawing two.
Czechia did make life awkward for England in Prague before Pavel Šulc’s dismissal, but Santi Denia’s side have now lost all three Nations League games.
They are also missing captain Ladislav Krejčí through suspension tonight.
England should win. Combining that with three or more goals gives us a more interesting angle than simply backing another short-priced home victory.
Harry Kane to score
There’s another piece of England history waiting for Kane tonight.
If he plays, the captain will earn his 125th cap, drawing level with Peter Shilton’s record for the England men’s team.
He couldn’t arrive in much better form.
Kane scored twice against Croatia on Saturday and has now scored in each of England’s opening three Nations League matches. Those goals took him to 89 for his country and 11 during 2026 alone.
Tuchel summed it up fairly well:
“Everything he does, he does it on the highest level.”
Kane also scored against Czechia in Prague, converting England’s second after Gordon had opened the scoring.
With a record-equalling appearance at Wembley and England creating chances for fun at the weekend, backing the captain to find the net again makes plenty of sense.
Anthony Gordon to score or assist
Gordon has become extremely difficult for Tuchel to leave out.
He scored the opener in Prague and followed that with another goal during Saturday’s demolition of Croatia.
Czechia manager Santi Denia has certainly noticed.
“Gordon? What a player!”
Denia went even further, comparing Gordon’s level with Lamine Yamal and praising his speed and ability in one-on-one situations.
Those qualities caused Czechia problems in the first meeting.
Their defence is likely to spend plenty of tonight sitting deeper than it did against Spain, which should leave Gordon receiving the ball repeatedly around the penalty area.
The goal-or-assist market gives us a little more flexibility than asking him to score in a third consecutive appearance.
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Where can I watch England vs Czechia?
England host Czechia at Wembley Stadium tonight, Tuesday, October 6, with kick-off at 7:45 pm BST.
The match will be shown live in the UK on ITV1 and ITVX, with ITV’s coverage beginning at 7 pm.
What have the managers said?
Thomas Tuchel:
Tuchel wants England to carry Saturday’s performance into Wembley rather than getting carried away by the scoreline.
“We should not expect that result.”
But the England boss was delighted with the characteristics behind the victory.
“If it’s a similar performance in terms of humbleness, attitude, intensity on and off the ball, then that’s what we want.”
Tuchel is also wary of assuming the reverse fixture will simply follow the same pattern.
He believes Czechia are improving under Denia, particularly when building possession from defence.
“I feel them getting stronger and stronger, especially in build-up.”
He described their patterns as “very flexible, very fluid”.
Santi Denia:
Denia has had about as difficult an introduction to the Czechia job as he could have asked for.
Croatia, England, Spain and now England again isn’t much of a welcome basket.
But the former Spain youth coach remains convinced his team are moving in the right direction.
“We know the football we want and the players have identified with the style.”
Denia has stressed that his immediate goal is Euro qualification rather than judging the rebuild solely on a brutal opening Nations League schedule.
He has also been hugely complimentary about England.
“England are among the two or three best in the world.”
And despite losing 2-0 in Prague, Denia clearly isn’t arriving at Wembley simply hoping to survive.
“And I want to beat them.”
What is England’s predicted team?
(4-2-3-1) Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Chalobah, Guéhi, Hall; Anderson, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane.
Injured: Ezri Konsa, Alex Scott, Nico O’Reilly.
Konsa and Scott both withdrew from the squad on Monday and returned to their clubs for assessment. Rico Lewis has been promoted from the Under-21s to provide additional defensive cover.
Tuchel has options if he wants to rotate after Saturday’s win, with Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Rio Ngumoha, James Garner and Jarrad Branthwaite among those pushing for minutes.
Kane is expected to start, and doing so will see him equal Shilton’s appearance record.
What is Czechia’s predicted team?
(4-2-3-1) Kinský; Sáček, Chaloupek, Hranáč, Sláma; Sadílek, Červ; Radosta, Šulc, Lingr; Hložek.
Suspended: Ladislav Krejčí.
Doubts: Adam Karabec, Vladimír Coufal.
Krejčí is suspended after being sent off against Spain, meaning Robin Hranáč is expected to return to Denia’s defence.
Šulc is available again after serving the suspension he picked up for his red card against England in Prague.
Karabec remains a doubt with a knock, while Coufal is dealing with a knee problem.
England vs Czechia prediction
The danger here is assuming Saturday happens again.
Seven-goal international victories aren’t normal, particularly against teams of Croatia’s quality, and Tuchel has already warned against expecting another demolition.
But England should still have too much.
They won 2-0 in Prague without producing anything close to Saturday’s attacking performance. Now they’re back at Wembley with Kane chasing history, Gordon in excellent form and Bellingham coming off a goal and three assists against Croatia.
Czechia have shown signs of improvement under Denia, but three Nations League games have brought three defeats.
England can make that four.
Score prediction: England 3-0 Czechia
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