England v Italy: Three Lions on brink of qualification

In the England v Italy betting odds, Kane is the 10/3 favourite to open the scoring while Bellingham is 9/2 to find the net and continue the sensational form he has shown for Real Madrid.

Jordan jeered off again?

Friday’s friendly against Australia saw Jordan Henderson line-up on home soil for the first time since his controversial summer switch from Liverpool to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq.

Henderson has been a high-profile supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and last month apologised for any hurt he caused by moving to a country where homosexuality is illegal.

The stand-in skipper’s name was met by murmurs before kick-off and the midfielder ended up being booed when substituted, with Southgate left angry by a reaction he felt “defies logic”.

It remains to be seen, however, if the 33-year-old features against Italy or whether fans will respond in the same way, while Henderson is 10/1 to get on the scoresheet.

Pressure off in November

Victory over Italy would seal England’s berth at Euro 2024 with two games of qualification still to play.

Those fixtures see Southgate’s side host minnows Malta at Wembley next month before travelling to face North Macedonia, who could still have an outside chance of reaching the finals themselves.

Going into those two games with the ability to experiment and look at players without the pressure of needing the points would be a handy outcome for Southgate, who has so little time to do so leading up to the finals.

Unsure Azzurri

Southgate said Italy have been “revitalised” under new head coach Luciano Spalletti, but defeat in London could cost the visitors dearly.

They may have lifted the European Championship at Wembley two years ago but they went on to miss out on the 2022 World Cup and have Ukraine – and to a lesser extent North Macedonia – to keep at bay.

Ukraine travel to Malta on Tuesday and will leapfrog Italy into second place if they better the result of Spalletti’s men, meaning their showdown meeting in Leverkusen in the final round of fixtures could essentially be a play-off to make it to Euro 2024.

View the latest football odds

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication