ENGLAND have come a long way since their infamous Euro 2016 elimination at the hands of Iceland and Gareth's Southgate's side will be looking to exact revenge during their Nations League opener on Saturday evening.
Following that nightmare in Nice four years ago the Three Lions have since reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup before finishing third in the inaugural Nations League tournament last Summer.
Southgate's fearless young lions landed seven wins from eight in Euro 2020 qualification where they slammed in 37 strikes in the process – an eye-catching average of 4.6 goals per-game.
What's more, the English conveyor belt is showing no signs of slowing up with the likes of Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden having burst onto the scene, with both players enjoying impressive ends to the prolonged Premier League season.
Iceland, meanwhile, don't have the same embarrassment of riches at their disposal as that of their opponents, not to mention the hosts are set to be without five key players for their opening Nations League fixture.
However, Erik Harmen will take confidence from his side's recent displays during Euro 2020 qualification and this match will present other members of his squad with an opportunity to stake a claim for a starting place in next month's Euro 2020 playoff with Romania.
Outright Betting
Iceland have avoided defeat in each of their last five international fixtures but the bookies expect that run to come to an end on Saturday with a home win priced up at a whopping 13/1 with PaddyPower, while the draw is also deemed unlikely at 19/4 with Betway.
England have won five of their last six competitive matches and another success for Southgate and Co this weekend is heavily fancied at a best 3/10 with UniBet.
Betting Angles
With the new Premier League season fast approaching and the rescheduled Euros just nine months away, I suspect England's star-studded squad will be desperate to prove their worth ahead of next Summer's showpiece.
One man whose place is all but guaranteed in Gareth Southgate's squad next Summer is England skipper Harry Kane and I fancy the Three Lions forward to get on the scoresheet on Saturday evening.
The Tottenham talisman ended last season in red-hot form having hit five goals across Spurs' final three Premier League assignments of the campaign.
On the international stage Kane has racked up 10 goals across his last six appearances for his country and with that in mind I'm happy to have a play on Kane to score anytime at 5/6 with SportNation.
Whether or not Kane gets on the scoreboard remains to be seen, however, I suspect England's superior quality will see them assert their authority when they come up against a depleted Iceland outfit.
There is little value in backing an outright England win at 3/10 (UniBet) and an away win and over 1.5 match goals also looks too short a general 1/2 with most bookmakers.
Therefore, I've decided to be a bit creative and an alternative angle that I like the look of when making use of William Hill's Build Your Odds feature is the combination of England to win and England to score in both halves, which will give us a nice looking 13/10 shot (William Hill).
Taking the above-mentioned betting angle would have banked profit in each of England's last three outings and I like the look of a repeat at 13/10 (William Hill) in Reykjavik this weekend.
This UEFA Nations League match between Iceland and England will be played on Sep 5, 2020 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Iceland vs England prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
