INTERNATIONAL BREAK: England vs Brazil the main event
Following the excitement that the FA Cup served up last weekend with Manchester United ousting Liverpool from the competition, League and Cup football take a break and international friendlies takes centre stage this weekend.
England and Brazil will collide at Wembley, then later on Saturday, Euro host Germany will travel to France for another blockbuster clash against the French side led by super Kylian Mbappe.
Event # 1 – FRI INT – England vs Brazil – 2:00 PM
England take on Brazil and are favourites to continue their winning ways, as they have won all five of their home matches since the 2022 World Cup. Indeed, they have scored 15 goals and have conceded just one during this impressive run.
Since playing to a 1-1 draw against North Macedonia in November, this will be the first friendly international for the English side, tuning up for the Euro 2024 tournament.
Having reached the World Cup semi-finals and the Euro finals, English fans continue to dream that with this bunch of new talent the team possesses, this might be the year when they finally lift a major trophy for the first time since 1966.
Brazil, on the other hand, have had a disappointing series of results recently. They did look good at the last World Cup, they ultimately failed to stamp their class on the tournament and were knocked out on penalties in the last eight by Croatia.
The once mighty Brazilians come into this match in poor form, having lost their last three matches and are winless in their last four overall games. The five-time World Cup winners were beaten 1-0 in their most recent match against their great rivals Argentina and will be aiming to return to winning ways against England in their own back yard.
KEY STATS
England – have kept a clean sheet in 11 of their last 14 international friendlies at home and have won their last 11 international friendlies at home.
Brazil – have lost their last three matches and are winless in their last four matches in all competitions. The defeats to Uruguay, Colombia, and Argentina is the first time the Brazilians were suffering back-to-back losses since the 2014 World Cup.
Both sides – both teams have scored in two of the last three matches between England and Brazil.
The betting Tip. England Win.
Event # 2 International Friendly – France vs Germany – 3:00 PM
Two heavyweights of world football face off when France tackle Germany in Lyon tomorrow, Saturday, March 23.
France have been in excellent form recently as they remained unbeaten in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, winning seven of their eight games to book their spot to this summer’s tournament.
After losing in the final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup final to Argentina, France will be aiming to go one better and win the Euro this summer.
The French have scored a whopping 29 goals in their last eight Euro qualifiers, they also played two friendlies in September and October, beating Scotland 4-1, but were ambushed 2-1 by this weekend’s opponents Germany. In their last five games ahead of this match, France have won three, drawn one and suffered one loss.
Germany have been through a tough time recently, losing six of their last 10 matches, winning two and drawing two, resulting in them sacking coach Hansi Flick last year and bringing in Julian Nagelsmann for the Euro 2024.
As host of this summer’s tournament, Germany did not have to go through the qualifying process, meaning all their games were friendlies.
Their last game was a 2-0 loss at Austria, which was followed by another loss to Turkey.
The Germans have endured some rough form recently, albeit all in the friendlies, and they are known to be a tournament team, hence fans will be confident of them producing better results in the Euros as host.
KEY STATS
France – defeated Germany in the last European Championship in 2021, winning 1-0 in the group stage. France have won their last five international friendlies at home scoring at least 3 goals or more during this run.
• Germany – have conceded a goal in each of their last 10 matches but did beat France last September to end their five-match winless run.
• Both sides – in the last five head-to-head meetings between France and Germany, France have won two and lost one, Germany winning one and other ending in a draw.
The betting Tip. France win.