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Czechs have it all to do at Wembley as England aim for another big Nations League victory

JA

Jason Pettigrove

Published 1 hour ago

England's final match of the current international break sees them take on the Czech Republic in the UEFA Nations League at Wembley on Tuesday evening.

[p]Aside from a loss to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] in a game that the Three Lions arguably could've won if [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kane-harry/v5HSlEAa/"]Harry Kane[/a]'s penalty had gone in to give them a 3-1 lead at that stage, Thomas Tuchel's men have played brilliantly.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a] are unbeaten at home in last eight games vs Czech Republic[/h2][p]None more so than in their last fixture, where they tore [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/croatia/K8aznggo/"]Croatia[/a] apart to inflict the Vatreni's heaviest-ever defeat (7-0), in a performance that left their captain, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/modric-luka/bZWyoJnA/"]Luka Modric[/a], [b]"embarrassed".[/b][/p][p]The Czechs go into the match at the bottom of Group C, without a point from the three games played during this break, which included a 2-0 home defeat to England a week ago.[/p][image alt="England vs Czech Republic - Recent head-to-head results" id="3c4605be-38e0-4999-8e71-bc3d1ccf93a4" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ce3fccf9-ca2a-401d-ae68-dcb3956eb68a" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]The hosts will certainly be the more confident of the two teams given that they're unbeaten in all eight of the meetings between the sides at Wembley (W6 D2).[/p][p]Tuchel can't allow complacency to creep into England's game, however, as although the visitors have lost six of their eight competitive meetings to the Three Lions (W2), they've always responded to back-to-back defeats with a win.[/p][h2]Kane to equal [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/shilton-peter/lr7B4o38/"]Shilton[/a] as most-capped England player[/h2][p][b]"I will not openly talk about any weaknesses; we will always try to find gaps when we analyse opponents,"[/b] the German said in his pre-match press conference.[/p][p][b]"We always try to find advantages for us, but there is a lot of development in their squad. I feel them getting stronger and stronger, especially in build-up. Clear patterns of play, very flexible, very fluid."[/b][/p][embed guid="fa3b88b5-31be-4e5d-8486-39f323f3e6e1" url="https://x.com/England/status/2107372788197527711" social-type="twitter" /][p]Harry Kane will lead the team once again, and in so doing will equal Peter Shilton as the England player with the most caps to date (125).[/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayern-munich/nVp0wiqd/"]Bayern Munich[/a] striker has also extended his international scoring record for the Three Lions during the current break, and will surely be looking to add to his tally of 89 at the place England call home.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gordon-anthony/EFo95m2P/"]Anthony Gordon[/a] could score for a fifth successive international[/h2][p]After his brace against Croatia, Kane became the first England player to score 10+ goals in three different calendar years: 11 (2026), 12 (2019) and 16 (2021).[/p][p]It's not only Kane who has enjoyed himself, though, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a]'s Anthony Gordon scoring in his last four international matches. He could match [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rooney-wayne/WfXv1DCa/"]Wayne Rooney[/a] and score in a fifth consecutive England game if he finds the net on Tuesday, and given his personal form, you wouldn't bet against him doing so.[/p][embed guid="7f60ebea-9bf2-40e9-a8a1-00ce0490658b" url="https://x.com/England/status/2107146294666138060" social-type="twitter" /][p]Oddly enough, two of the goals Gordon has scored have been headers, and he's not managed any headed goals in 248 club appearances to date, by way of comparison. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bellingham-jude/QNvlPm7s/"]Jude Bellingham[/a] has once again shown his importance to the national team, as three assists against Croatia would attest. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saka-bukayo/08NLEo06/"]Bukayo Saka[/a]'s two right-footed goals in a match for the first time in his career also helped demolish the Vatreni, and the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] man has, thankfully, not shown any signs of the niggles that have dogged him in the past.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/czech-republic-6LHwBDGU/england-j9N9ZNFA/?mid=OvE4kA1E"]Follow England vs Czech Republic with Flashscore![/a][/b][/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scott-alex/boFdbMyt/"]Alex Scott[/a] misses out[/h2][p]One player who will miss the game through injury is [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bournemouth/OtpNdwrc/"]Bournemouth[/a]'s Alex Scott, and Tuchel was quick to address the situation.[/p][p][b]"I can understand that Bournemouth are not happy because they've lost a key player," [/b]he added.[/p][embed guid="20dc47ca-303d-475f-bb21-3d041d44e9ac" url="https://x.com/England/status/2107187818761961942" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"But for two-and-a-half weeks they are our players and, as much as we trust the clubs to put the players' health first, clubs have to trust us to put the players' health first. [/b][/p][p][b]"You can see it in our team selections." [/b][/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/denia-santiago/zBGq3u0i/"]Santiago Denia[/a] could replicate Czech record from the 1970s[/h2][p]Czech Republic are on one of their worst runs of form since the early 1970s, having lost five of their last six games in all competitions (D1). [/p][p]Four of those defeats have come in their last four matches, and the last time they lost five games in a row came between July 1972 and March 1973.[/p][p]It was also in 1973 when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sejk-vaclav/x26ZWCZ6/"]Vaclav Jezek[/a] lost his first four games in charge of the Czech national team, a record that Santi Denia will equal if his side leaves Wembley having been beaten again.[/p][embed guid="c75cbd64-d397-48d0-9979-eced1cb0f13f" url="https://x.com/ceskarepre_eng/status/2083146620019863617" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sulc-pavel/dYaeeH8k/"]Pavel Sulc[/a] can return from his one-match ban after being sent off last week against England, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/krejci-ladislav/nZ8SVvvE/"]Ladislav Krejci[/a] is suspended after his red card against Spain.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hranac-robin/z3DBHDy0/"]Robin Hranac[/a] is likely to replace Krejci, with both [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sadilek-michal/zJiFbA7r/"]Michal Sadilek[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cerv-lukas/IiOYBdC3/"]Lukas Cerv[/a] expected to return to shore up the midfield.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]

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