Malta vs England predictions: Maguire a Malteasing price to score
- England are averaging over four goals per game across their last 10 European Championship qualifiers
- Harry Maguire has managed at least one shot on goal in five of England's last seven games
- Recommended bets: Harry Maguire to score first or last
England get back to work in their quest to qualify for next summer's European Championships with a trip to sunny Malta on Friday.
The Three Lions made the best possible start to their Euro 2024 qualification campaign with wins over Italy and Ukraine back in March and are expected to have no issues seeing off a Malta side that has lost 35 of its last 41 Euro qualifiers.
England won 4-0 on their last visit to the Mediterranean island and a similarly emphatic victory is expected, despite the hosts having shown signs of improvement.
Team news
Lewis Dunk and Jude Bellingham have both withdrawn from the initial England squad selected by Gareth Southgate due to injury.
Raheem Sterling, Ben Chillwell, Reece James, Mason Mount and Nick Pope are amongst the other England regulars to miss out, while Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze could be handed his first cap in Ta'Qali.
Malta have been dealt a blow with Teddy Teuma, who registered 12 assists for Union SG in Belgium this season, being ruled out with a foot injury, leaving them with only two foreign-based players in the squad.
The stats
England have won nine of their last 10 European Championship qualifiers, scoring 41 goals in the process.
The Three Lions' most recent win, a 2-0 success over Ukraine in March, ended a run of 10 straight Euro qualifiers featuring England to go over 2.5 goals.
Harry Kane has enjoyed his recent outings in Euro qualifiers, scoring 14 in his last 10, while he bagged a brace the last time England played Malta in 2017.
Malta's form has picked up of late with six wins in 13 matches, including a friendly success against Luxembourg last time out.
However, their record in European Championship qualifiers remains poor with the Falcons losing their last 11 outings.
Prediction
England's record in qualifying for major tournaments under Southgate is remarkable with 24 wins from 29 matches and there should be no repeat of last June’s malaise that threatened the coach's job.
Even at the end of a long, hard season, the Three Lions should overwhelm their defensive-minded hosts, who have posted some respectable efforts of late, losing 2-0 to Italy in their last Euro qualifier.
The outcome is in little doubt and England's level of firepower should see them pass the over 3.5 team goals threshold. The Euro 2020 runners-up have scored at least four goals in seven of their last 10 European Championship qualifiers and can frank that form in Malta.
And it could be worth backing Harry Maguire to get amongst the goals. The Manchester United defender remains a regular in Southgate's England team and is a menace from set pieces.
He registered four shots in the win over Ukraine and rarely gets through an international without having a pop at goal.
Maguire bagged three times in four games in World Cup qualifying and is worth chancing to net again on Friday.
