World Cup co-hosts Mexico have been foot perfect in reaching the Round of 16 where they will come up against England at the Azteca Stadium in the early hours of Monday morning.
Mexico
Fist half goals from Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez helped Mexico to a 2-0 win over Ecuador in the Round of 32 at this venue on Wednesday, another confident performance from the cohosts who’s defence has yet to be breached in these finals.
Mexico took control of Group A from the opening match and didn’t let go, boasting a 100% record and the maximum 9 points, 5 clear of South Africa whilst South Korea with 3 points and Czech Republic with 1 point were eliminated.
Although they were guaranteed to top Group A heading into their clash with Czech Republic they didn’t let up and they came out on top by a 3-0 scoreline. All the goals came in the second half with Mateo Chavez, Julian Quinones and Alvaro Fidalgo the players on target.
In their second outing Mexico beat South Korea 1-0 in Guadalajara thanks to a goal from Luis Romo early in the second half.
Mexico opened their campaign with a more than comfortable 2-0 win over South Africa at the Azteca in the opening match of the tournament. Julian Quinones gave them a ninth minute lead and Raul Jimenez made it 2-0 on 67 minutes. South Africa did pick up 2 red cards in that game and Mexico were also reduced to 10 men in injury time when the game was settled.
England
England were given a huge scare by DR Congo before eventually coming through their Round fo 32 clash in Atlanta on Wednesday with a 2-1 win. They were a goal down in just 7 minutes and it could and should have been 2-0 to DRC by half time but a golden opportunity for Wissa came off the woodwork. It took England until the 75th minute to draw level through a Harry Kane header and the England skipper then completed the comeback with an excellent strike in the 86th minute, his fifth goal of these finals.
England topped Group L with 2 wins and 1 draw. Their tally of 7 points was 1 more than runners up Croatia whilst Ghana finished third with 4 points and Panama failed to earn a point or score a goal and were eliminated.
England secured top spot in the group with a 2-0 win over Panama in New Jersey. Given Panama had only pride to play for it wasn’t a result to set the pulse racing and it took just over an hour to score the first goal (Bellingham) and Harry Kane added the second shortly afterwards.
In their second match of the tournament England played out a dour 0-0 draw with Ghana in Boston. They had almost 80% of possession but couldn’t find a way through although they did hit the woodwork late on.
England took on Croatia in Dallas in their opening game and they came out on top 4-2. Harry Kane opened the scoring early on with a retaken penalty but Croatia were level on 36 minutes. England skipper Kane then headed his side back in front from a corner just before half time but England lost concentration and Croatia made it 2-2 on the stroke of half time. England were quickly out of the blocks in the second half and Bellingham made it 3-2 before Rashford rounded off the scoring of what was a terrific contest.
The Betting (Regulation time unless stated otherwise)
Mexico are priced at around 21/10 to win the game with the draw available at 11/5 and England can be backed at around 11/8
A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 14/10 and its even money for both teams to score
As far as price boosts are concerned Sportingbet offers include;
England to win and both teams to score? Yes is 21/4
Harry Kane to score the first goal is 17/4
Raul Jimenez to score any time (regulation time) is 29/10
Bet Builder price boosts are also available.
The Verdict:
Mexico have only ever lost twice in 89 matches played at this venue and they have yet to concede a goal in this tournament. Meanwhile the evidence so far suggest England are being carried by Harry Kane and to some degree Jude Bellingham and they really need some big performances from other members of the team.
I’m open minded about this one so the Harry Kane 1st scorer price boost gets the nod
Bets: Harry Kane to score the first goal boosted 17/4 by Sportingbet
Note, odds are subject to change