Malta v England Betting Tips [16 June 2023]
Football - Euro
16 June 2023 14:45
The match
Group leaders England look to make it three wins from three when they take on fifth-placed Malta in the 2024 European Championship qualifiers. England kicked things off with wins over Italy and Ukraine back in March to race out to an early lead atop Group C. The Three Lions have now won four of their previous five with their solitary loss coming 2-1 at the hands of France in the World Cup quarter-final. Harry Kane has responded with goals in England’s two fixtures following his heartbreaking late miss from the spot in the World Cup quarter-final. He’ll likely be looking at this as a great opportunity to add some more goals onto his record tally of 55 goals. Kane scored a brace the last time he took to the field against Malta on this ground back in 2017. England have been in strong goal scoring form overall, netting 20 goals in their last eight fixtures for an average of 2.5 per outing.
As usual, Malta come into these Euro qualifiers expected to finish dead last in the group. Since 1959, the Reds have competed in every qualifying campaign for the World Cup and Euros, failing to progress on each occasion. They are, however, actually coming off some very respectable results in recent fixtures. Malta beat Luxembourg 1-0 away from home in June, drew 2-2 at home with Greece in November of 2022 and defeated Israel 2-1 in September of 2022. While those results are certainly encouraging, they will be facing a completely different beast in this England squad. With only one clean sheet in their last seven, we struggle to see how Malta can slow down their opponents on Friday. There is simply too much attacking quality on display for England to bet against anything other than a comfortable away victory.
Key Statistics
- England ran out 4-0 winners the last time they faced Malta away from home.
- Malta have conceded 37 goals in their last 13 matches against teams ranked inside FIFA’s top 60.
- Against the same top 60 sides, Malta has lost 11 of 13 and has managed just two draws during that time.
- England have scored two or more goals in six of their last eight.
- The visitors are averaging 2.5 goals scored per contest in their last eight matches.
The bet of our experts
England shouldn’t have too much trouble recording a multiple-goal victory here. We envision a similar type of match to their 4-0 win at this ground six years ago. England have been in fine goal scoring form starting in the World Cup and carrying over to the beginning of their 2024 Euro qualifying campaign. A Harry Kane goal scorer prop could also be a good look here as he’s found the net in his last four England appearances. Either first goal scorer or 2+ goals both have attractive prices at better than even money. Our Malta vs England prediction is England on the -2 European Handicap, meaning they must win by at least three goals.
