There has been a certain air of calm around the England squad leading into this World Cup. Long gone are the days of the ‘Golden Generation’ with the weight of the world on their shoulders, gone are the days of foreign managers and controversy, and it has all been replaced by the calm, reserved aura of Gareth Southgate. The England manager has done well to curtail any outlandish expectations and has found a sensible middle ground between not placing too much expectation on a young set of players, but also having hope and excitement that they can perform well.
On Saturday evening, England will welcome Nigeria to Wembley Stadium and there are plenty of interesting sub plots heading into the game. Southgate must decide on his first choice between the sticks, with Jordan Pickford and Jack Butland both hoping to be handed the #1 jersey for Russia. There are also spots up for grabs in defence with Gary Cahill and Harry Maguire battling it out to play in the back three alongside John Stones and Kyle Walker. In attack, there is also the question of who will get the nod out of Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard and whether Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane can form a successful partnership. Southgate has just two more matches before the World Cup begins to iron out any issues in his team and he will be hoping to pick up a win against Nigeria on Saturday.
If England do manage to win, Coral are offering new customers the chance to get odds of 40/1 on that result. The offer is limited to a maximum bet of £1, but it is very easy to take advantage of. All you need to do is sign up for a Coral account, deposit £5 into your account and then stake a maximum £1 bet on ‘England v Nigeria – England to Win at 40/1′ in Coral’s ‘My Markets’ section. If England win the game, you will be paid out at the 40/1 odds and if they lose, you will receive a free £5 bet from Coral, so it really is a win-win scenario!
England will start the game as big favourites and even though Nigeria possess some exciting attacking talents with Premier League experience, they have an inexperienced and pretty poor, on paper, defensive line. England striker, Harry Kane, will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing the Super Eagles on Saturday and fans of the Three Lions will be hoping that he can hit the ground running heading into the World Cup.