England vs Albania Prediction: Bets, Context, and Lineups
Best Bets for England vs Albania
- England to win and Both Teams to Score (No) at odds of 1.60 with 1xBet
- England to win 1-0, 2-0 or 3-0 at odds of 2.10 with 1xBet
- First-Half Winning Margin (England by 1) at odds of 2.70 with 1xBet
England are expected to run out comfortable 3-0 winners over an injury-hit Albania.
Our Analysis: Form of Both Teams
It’s Matchday 1 of England’s promising 2026 World Cup qualification campaign. In a group featuring Albania, Andorra, Latvia and Serbia, Friday’s visitors to Wembley could be their toughest test in Group K.
Thomas Tuchel has been preparing for this match against Albania for several weeks. England were nearly flawless in their UEFA Nations League group, aside from a shock home defeat to Greece.
Tuchel is expected to feature several familiar faces in his first starting XI against Albania, along with a few new names. Although these new additions will be debutants, most of them are in great form domestically. They should settle in well against a nation that finished bottom of their League B group in the Nations League.
Albania won only two of their six League B group games in their recent Nations League campaign. They also managed just four goals scored in those games, which underlines their biggest issue.
The Albanians travel to London without multiple first-choice defenders, including Mario Mitaj and Elseid Hysaj. Meanwhile, the absence of the forward-thinking trio Anis Mehmeti, Taulant Seferi and Mirlind Daku will also be a significant blow. If you're looking to place a wager, check out 1xBet Promo Code for the best welcome bonuses and betting offers.
Probable Lineups for England vs Albania
England Expected Lineup: Pickford; James, Lewis-Skelly, Guehi, Burn, Rice, Bellingham, Foden, Rashford, Bowen, Kane
Albania Expected Lineup: Strakosha; Balliu, Ismajli, Ajeti, Laci, Ramadani, Asllani, Asani, Bajrami, Muci, Broja
Revamped and Solid Defence to Contain Albania
Albania’s tally of just four goals in six League B Nations League matches doesn't bode well against England.
In fact, Albania have managed just one goal in six competitive meetings with the Three Lions. This makes an England victory with a clean sheet a strong bet.
England’s backline could feature two debutants in Myles Lewis-Skelly and Dan Burn. Both of these players are in great form for Arsenal and Newcastle respectively, and they should be able to contain Albania’s struggling attack. For the best odds on this fixture, check out online betting sites offering competitive markets and promotions.
- England vs Albania Bet 1: England to Win and Both Teams to Score (No) at odds of 1.60 with 1xBet
Eventual Victory Anticipated
Only 50% of England’s competitive meetings with Albania have featured three or more goals. Although they thrashed Albania 5-0 at Wembley in November 2021, we are reluctant to back a goal fest here.
That’s largely due to the changes Thomas Tuchel is making to the starting XI, which could affect the on-field chemistry at times. Nevertheless, we still expect them to secure a victory.
Covering the 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0 winning scorelines accounts for the possibility that Albania could make life harder for England than expected. It also reinforces the view that Albania will fail to test Jordan Pickford at the other end.
- England vs Albania Bet 2: England to Win 1-0, 2-0 or 3-0 at odds of 2.10 with 1xBet
Three Lions to Settle In
As this is a new-look England team and the start of a new era under Tuchel, the start of the match could be cautious. Although a goalless first half is not anticipated, the third of our England vs Albania predictions is for England to be leading by only one goal at half-time.
We have remained confident throughout this preview that Albania will fail to score. Therefore, we are ultimately backing a 1-0 half-time scoreline here.
England are priced at just 1.40 with 1xBet to score one or fewer goals in the first half. Hence, odds of 2.70 for a one-goal winning margin at half-time give us much better value on England scoring once in the opening 45 minutes.
- England vs Albania Bet 3: First-Half Winning Margin (England by 1) at odds of 2.70 with 1xBet