England vs New Zealand prediction, betting tips and bet builder – Captain Kane in command

England take on New Zealand on Saturday night in Tampa in the first of two pre-World Cup friendlies in Florida.

England vs New Zealand best bets

England vs New Zealand head to head overview

England vs New Zealand predicted lineups

England (4-2-3-1): Pickford (GK); James, Konsa, Guehi, O’Reilly; Anderson, Mainoo; Rogers, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane

New Zealand (4-2-3-1): Crocombe (GK); Payne, Surman, Bindon, Cacace; Stamenic, Rufer; Just, McCowatt, Randall; Wood

England vs New Zealand prediction

England take part in their first of two pre-World Cup friendlies in Florida on Saturday night as they take on New Zealand in Tampa.

Saturday’s match precedes a second friendly in their World Cup warm up camp in Florida against Costa Rica in Orlando, before making the trip to Kansas, where they will be based for what they will be hoping will be the next five or six weeks.

Thomas Tuchel’s side gathered in their West Palm Beach base on Monday for a for a warm weather training camp in preparation for a World Cup campaign that could lead to them playing in tropical conditions in Miami.

England head into the World Cup among the tournament favourites and looking to end 60 years of hurt without a major international trophy since being crowned champions of the world in 1966.

The Three Lions won all eight of their World Cup qualifiers without so much as conceding a goal, but had a trickier time playing in their March internationals, drawing 1-1 at home against Uruguay before being beaten by Japan at Wembley.

Members of Arsenal’s side who played in the Champions League final on Sunday have not yet joined up with the squad, but the likes of Alex Scott, Ethan Nwaneri, Rio Ngumoha and Josh King, who have made the trip but aren’t in the World Cup squad, could all make their international debuts.

Following their friendly with Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday night, England will head to the World Cup base in Kansas in preparation for their opening game of the tournament, a clash against Croatia in Dallas, before taking on Ghana in Boston and Panama in New York to close out their Group L campaign.

New Zealand have qualified for the World Cup this year for the first time since 2010, and just the third time in their history.

Saturday’s bout will be their second friendly since landing in the USA, having already been thumped 4-0 by Haiti in their Florida warm up camp before they head to San Diego, where they will be based for their campaign.

Darren Bazeley is one of two Englishmen who will be managing at the World Cup this summer (the other being Graham Potter at Sweden), the Northampton-born former Watford, Walsall and Wolves right back having been charge of the All Whites for the last three years.

New Zealand secured their qualification for the World Cup way back in March last year, when several nations around the globe hadn’t even started their campaigns, leaving them plenty of chances to test themselves against stronger non-Oceanian opposition to prepare for their first appearance at a World Cup in 16 years.

In the 11 matches they’ve played since, the All Whites have won only two, starting off strongly with a win over Ivory Coast in Toronto 12 months ago, before thumping Chile 4-1 in Auckland in March this year.

Eight of those matches have ended in defeat though, their most recent of which, that 4-0 thumping by Haiti on Tuesday night, which doesn’t bode well for their bid to earn themselves a first ever victory at a World Cup.

New Zealand begin their World Cup campaign in Los Angeles with a match against Iran, with their second and third games taking place in Vancouver against Egypt and Belgium.

The two nations have played against each other on just two occasions before, both coming as part of England’s four-match tour to Australia, New Zealand and Malayisa in June 1991.

Gary Lineker scored the only goal of the game in the opening clash against New Zealand in Auckland before goals either side of half time from Stuart Pearce and David Hirst gave Graham Taylor’s team a 2-0 victory in Wellington.

England will be hoping to kick off their World Cup trip with a comfortable over opposition they should be expected to beat comfortably, with some players still likely to be fighting for their places in the starting line up against Croatia on 17th June.

New Zealand have lost four of their last five matches, including a 4-0 defeat to Haiti, so England should be hoping to put more than a few goals past them, though both teams will be getting used to the tropical Florida climate still – perhaps a 4-0 England win should also be in line.

England vs New Zealand betting tips

A winning send off

England head to the USA among the favourites to lift the World Cup in New York on the 19th July, and will be looking to get their tour underway with a comfortable victory against weak opposition on paper.

Whoever Tuchel selects to start will be looking to build up some form ahead of England’s opening World Cup clash against Croatia in Dallas, and will be eager to impress the manager and even make a statement to the rest of the world with less than a week until the tournament kicks off.

Kane the main man

Harry Kane scored more league goals than any other player in the top five leagues in the recently concluded season, bagging 36 goals in 31 games, nine more than the next closest.

The England captain is his country’s all time leading goal scorer, and is just two goals shy of the 80 mark for the Three Lions, a tally he could well breach on Saturday night in Tampa.

England vs New Zealand latest odds

Find the latest England vs New Zealand betting odds here, odds courtesy of Paddy Power and are subject to change.

• England – 1/10
• Draw – 13/2
• New Zealand – 16/1

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