Football
Albania vs England Preview: Odds, Tips and Predictions
Date: Sunday, 16 November Venue: Air Albania Stadium Kick-off time: 5pm GMT When Albania and England take to the field for this FIFA World Cup qualifier on Sunday, the picture of how Group K is likely to play out could be much clearer. For England, qualification may have already been sealed, but they could have the opportunity to finish the qualifying campaign with a 100% win record. When it comes to the hosts, however, this could be one of the most important World Cup matches in the nation’s history.
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Harry Kane /Getty Images
Albania could still be fighting it out with Serbia for second place in the group, which would bring with it a play-off spot that would leave them two wins away from a place at the tournament finals in the US next summer.
This match will be played after the penultimate round of matches on Thursday. As it stands, England has won all qualifying matches so far, with six wins out of six, and Albania sit second, one point ahead of Serbia. Albania travel to Andorra, while England play at home to Serbia.
Pre-Game Odds and Win Probability
For fans interested in online sports betting, here are the current Albania vs England betting odds (as of the latest bookmaker listings):
Home: 9.00 (8/1) – 11.1%
Draw: 4.80 (19/5) – 20.8%
Away: 1.33 (1/3) – 75%
Odds courtesy of Midnite, subject to change
Head-to-Head Record
Last Five Meetings
21/03/25: England 2-0 Albania (World Cup qualifying)
12/11/21: England 5-0 Albania (World Cup qualifying)
28/03/21: Albania 0-2 England (World Cup qualifying)
05/09/01: England 2-0 Albania (World Cup qualifying)
28/03/01: Albania 1-3 England (World Cup qualifying)
Albania Current Form – DWWWW
Albania went into the current international break on magnificent form, with four consecutive victories. Their last defeat, in fact, came against England in a 2-0 loss in the reverse fixture in March. It should be noted that Albania’s last win came in a friendly at home to Jordan (4-2), so not too much can be read into that. Prior to that, Rey Manaj’s goal helped them to a crucial 1-0 win away to Serbia, giving them the advantage in the race for second place in the group.
Albania will be expected to go into the clash with England with five straight successes, as they are 1/4 (1.25) to win at Andorra on Thursday. Should they win that match, there is a chance they will have already sealed their play-off spot, which would happen if England were to also beat Serbia.
Key Players to Watch
- Armando Broja: Premier League fans will be familiar with the former Chelsea and now Burnley forward. The 24-year-old has netted six times from 19 starts for Albania and scored in his country’s last match against Jordan.
- Elseid Hysaj: With 93 appearances, the right-back is Albania’s most capped player. Hysaj can offer defensive stability, although he could be a little rusty, as he has recently been consigned to the substitutes’ bench for his club, Lazio.
- Berat Djimsiti: Djimsiti has been an important part of Atalanta’s success in recent years, where he won the UEFA Europa League in 2024. With Albania expected to allow England to have a majority of the possession, the 32-year-old’s experience will be crucial at the heart of the defence.
Albania Team News
Dependent on what happens in the game against Andorra on Thursday, Albania should be close to full strength. Centre-back Ardian Ismajli is back in contention after missing the victories over Serbia and Jordan last month with a hamstring problem.
England Current Form – LWWWW
England’s form in qualifying under new manager Thomas Tuchel has been near faultless. Going into the match at home to Serbia on Thursday, they had won all six qualifiers without conceding a goal; the only issue had been a scraped 1-0 win away to Andorra in June.
There had been some concerns when this was followed up with a 1-3 friendly loss at home to Senegal, but 0-5 victories in qualifying away to Serbia and Latvia have been particularly impressive.
Key Players to Watch
- Harry Kane: The England captain is in scintillating form, having scored a staggering 26 goals in 22 games for his club Bayern Munich this season. Kane sat joint third on the list of top scorers in European qualifying at the start of the international break, with six goals.
- Jude Bellingham: There has been a high degree of intrigue around the 22-year-old, who was left out of the last England squad in October. However, the midfielder is back in after some impressive form at Real Madrid.
- Declan Rice: The defensive midfielder is having a magnificent season at Premier League leaders Arsenal and is starting to become more of a threat in attacking areas. Albania will be wary of his ability to control a game.
England Team News
Cole Palmer continues to be sidelined by injury, and there remains no place in the squad for Jack Grealish or Trent Alexander-Arnold. However, Phil Foden has been brought back in after showing some promising form at Manchester City, and Bournemouth’s Alex Scott has received his first call-up.
Predicted Line-Ups
Albania (4-3-3) Strakosha; Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Mitaj; Laci, Asllani, Shehu; Broja, Uzuni, Manaj.
England (4-2-3-1) Pickford; James, Stones, Konsa, Spence; Rice, Anderson; Foden, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane.
Suggested Bets
After checking the odds at various bookmakers, here are some suggestions for Sunday’s game at some of the top football sportsbooks:
England to Win -1: England have won five of their six qualifiers by more than one goal (Midnite 19/20)
Both Teams to Score - No: England are yet to concede a goal in qualifying, and Albania have conceded one in their last five qualifiers (Betdaq 4/5)
England to Win & Over 2.5 Goals: England have scored three or more goals in their last three matches (QuickBet 1/1)
Value Bets
Half Time/Full Time - Draw - England: Albania only conceded three goals in six qualifying matches going into this week, but England should be too strong (Fitzdares 14/5, BoyleSports 7/2).
Correct Score – Albania 0-2 England: The scoreline by which England beat Albania back in March (BoyleSports 6/1, Midnite 11/2)
Draw and Under 2.5 Goals: Albania could dig deep if they require a result to help them secure a play-off place, and England could field a second-string team with qualification assured (Fitzdares 5/1)
Prediction: England to Win -1
While England may be expected to take this fixture more lightly with qualification to the World Cup already secured, Tuchel’s team should be determined to go into the tournament with as much momentum as possible.
Albania has impressed in the qualifying competition so far, so they are likely to put up a fight, but England have the kind of squad depth that should prove to be too much for their opponents, and we can see them edging this one out 2-0.
David Cook is a Freelance Writer who works across a range of media-related roles in the gaming industry; a space David has worked in since 2014. David is a former editor of a B2B gaming publication. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist and also holds a degree in sports journalism.
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