ENGLAND head into the World Cup in dreadful form but will still be confident of boosting morale with an opening victory as they face Iran in Al Rayyan.
After reaching a semi-final and a final in their last two tournaments, the Three Lions would have usually been considered as contenders to go all the way in Qatar. But only the most patriotic of punters will be backing them at the bookies after watching Gareth Southgate's side go six matches without a win.
They were relegated from the Nations League after losing home and away to Hungary, with a chronic lack of firepower the biggest problem. When England finally found their shoots boots in the final game against Germany, they then fell apart at the back in a 3-3 Wembley draw.
With Harry Maguire desperately short of confidence and Harry Kane looking a bit leggy for Spurs, it doesn't bode well for World Cup glory.
However, Southgate also boasts some of the most exciting young talent in Europe in the shape of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden while his players have experience of grinding out results in major finals.
Iran are the first hurdle they have to negotiate in Qatar and will need to be respected after finishing ahead of South Korea in their Asian qualifying group.
They only conceded four times in 10 qualifiers so will be a hard nut to crack, although they have strangely opted for a change of manager going into the finals with Carlos Quieroz replacing Dragan Skocic at the helm.
I'd imagine the former Real Madrid boss will still stick to a defensive blueprint, however, as Iran look to frustrate the English and pile more pressure on Southgate.
How the bookies view it
Iran have been written off and they are as big as 12/1 with Coral to claim a shock victory. England are just 31/100 at Highbet while the draw pays 19/5 at SBK.
Head to head
These teams have never faced off before but Iran have previous when it comes to shocks at the World Cup after puncturing the misguided optimism of Ally MacLeod's Scotland with a 1-1 draw in 1978. The Iranians also beat Morocco at Russia 2018 and drew 1-1 with Portugal.
Players to watch
England have been leaning heavily on Kane for goals and he signed off with a strike for Spurs last weekend to bring up a full house of tips for our man Gabriel. Kane won the Golden Boot at the last World Cup after smashing a hat-trick against Panama and is 23/20 with Highbet to kick off this campaign with a goal against Iran. The odds increase to 21/4 with McBookie if you back him to score with a header.
Iran's best hope for a goal looks to be Porto star Mehdi Taremi. The 30-year-old has 12 goals for club and country this season and could get some joy against England's defence.
Anything else catch the eye?
I'd expect Iran to sit deep and try to frustrate England but betting against BTTS offers poor value at a best 1/2 with Betfred. Under 2.5 goals also isn't great at 5/7 with VBet but backing most goals to come after the break is better at 23/20 with McBookie.
I'd expect England to win a lot of corners against a team defending in numbers. Backing them at -4.5 in the handicap pays just under evens with Highbet but I'm more drawn to the 28/25 for England -2 in the second half corner handicap.
Sadegh Moharrami looks decent value for a card after picking up six yellows so far this season. The Dinamo Zagreb stopper is 9/2 with Bet365 to fall foul of the referee.
This World Cup match between England and Iran will be played on Nov 21, 2022 and kick off at 13:00. Check below for our tipsters best England vs Iran prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
In December 2020 we sadly 
10.5 over corners for me
Good luck to everyone 👍
10/1 for IRAN crazy odds !
Indeed, could come back to bite the bookies
Haaaaa