England vs Costa Rica predictions: Familiar routine win for Three Lions

Published:

Thomas Tuchel's side finish their World Cup preparations against Costa Rica

England beat New Zealand 1-0 in first World Cup warm-up game on Saturday
Costa Rica lost 3-1 to Colombia on June 2
Recommended bet: England to win to nil @ 3/5 with LiveScore Bet

England conclude their preparations for the World Cup with a friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday.

With the global showpiece set to kick off just 24 hours later, Thomas Tuchel will use the friendly as a final tune-up ahead of the three Lions' opening Group L clash against Croatia on June 17.

After Saturday’s narrow victory over New Zealand, this could be another tricky test for England, who will hope to justify their status among the favourites to win the World Cup this summer when the real action gets under way.

Costa Rica failed to qualify after a disappointing Concacaf campaign, missing out on the World Cup for the first time since 2010.

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Team news

Tuchel fielded two completely different teams in either half against the All Whites, but is unlikely to follow the same plan on Wednesday.

The German coach may opt to select something like his first-choice XI from the start and there were no reported injuries from the run-out at the weekend.

Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice look set to play after being given more time off following Arsenal's Champions League final defeat, while the likes of Ezri Konsa, Nico O'Reilly and Elliot Anderson should all start, with one of Jude Bellingham or Morgan Rogers set to be handed the No.10 role, just behind skipper Harry Kane.

The majority of the modest Costa Rica squad selected for their summer friendlies play their football at home in the Primera Division, but they do have attacking threat from Spartak Moscow forward Manfred Ugalde, while defender Jeyland Mitchell, who plays for Austian side Sturm Graz, is one of their rising talents.

See the latest England vs Costa Rica team news on LiveScore

The stats

England qualified for the World Cup after topping their group with a perfect record of eight wins from eight, without conceding a single goal.

Costa Rica have failed to qualify, missing out on the World Cup for the first time since 2010.

Tuchel's side have won seven of their last nine games, while Costa Rica have failed to win any of their last five matches, drawing twice and losing three times.

The two sides last met in a friendly just before the World Cup in 2018, when England won 2-0 in Leeds.

Their last competitive meeting was a goalless final World Cup Group D clash in Brazil in 2014 when England had already been eliminated.

See previous head to head England vs Costa Rica results

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Prediction

England are understandably huge favourites for victory in Orlando but, for better value, backing Tuchel's side to again win to nil appeals more at 3/5 with LiveScore Bet.

England may have found the back of the net just once on Saturday, but they did keep another clean sheet, following on from their perfect qualification campaign when they managed a superb eight shutouts out of eight.

The New Zealand friendly felt more like a training match with 11 changes at half-time, but England are likely to approach this clash differently and we should assume they will record a bigger margin of victory as preparations are stepped up another notch.

Costa Rica have lost back-to-back friendlies to Colombia (3-1) and Iran (5-0) – opponents also preparing for the World Cup – with those results suggesting this is a team unlikely to put up too much resistance against the Three Lions next.

England are therefore likely to win comfortably and backing them to do so without conceding looks to be the way to go.