Kylian Mbappe, Marcus Rashford, and others will return to international action this week. It’s hard to bet against them playing a big role.
International betting market
Odds
France to beat Croatia
Rashford to score v Albania
Belgium clean sheet v Ukraine
Odds courtesy of Stake. Correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
Didier Deschamps’ France are a formidable side whoever they start with, but there’s no doubt that Mbappe gives them something more. They are unbeaten in five games, and the Real Madrid star will be keen to extend that streak to six. You can back him at 2.50 on Stake as anytime goalscorer.
Croatia’s form isn’t great, and they are winless in three, so the French will see an opportunity in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final. They’ll be confident of sealing the deal at home, but securing a win in Split would be a huge boost. Mbappe definitely increases their chances of achieving that.
Les Bleus haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last four away from home, so Croatia could get themselves on the scoresheet. However, with their top attacker back in the mix, and Ousmane Dembele in great form, France are likely to score more than they concede. A bet on both teams to score at 1.75 on Stake could be worth considering.
It hasn’t taken long for Rashford to get back into the England setup after making the bold decision to leave Manchester United. Based on his performances at Aston Villa so far, he clearly deserves it.
The attacker is yet to score for Villa, but he has already provided four assists for the Villans, earning him a recall from Thomas Tuchel. Whether he’ll start against Albania on Friday night remains to be seen, however, you’d definitely expect him to feature. If he does, a goal wouldn’t be a surprise.
You can get over 3.5 goals at 2.40 on Stake, and with 3+ in England’s last four matches, it’s a solid bet. The Albanians have one win in nine, but they have made life difficult for teams like Italy and Croatia last year. They have also scored in seven of their last nine matches away, but the Three Lions have four clean sheets from six going into this one.
Tuchel will be eager for his – and England’s – World Cup qualifying campaign to get off to a faultless start. There’s a good chance it will.
You might expect the return of a key Real Madrid player after almost two years out would be welcomed by all Belgian fans. However, that’s certainly not the case after Rudi Garcia brought the 102-cap star back into the fold – one player even quit the national team.
Still, Courtois’ quality is undeniable, and Belgium are harder to beat with him in goal. Koen Casteels’ decision to rule himself out due to the ‘red carpet’ treatment for the Los Blancos stopper raised eyebrows, but many understood it. For Garcia, though, it appears that he’d rather have Courtois anyway, and it’d be a huge shock if he didn’t start against Ukraine this week.
Serhiy Rebrov’s men have been scoring consistently, having found the net in six consecutive games since September. However, it’s worth noting that the last team to spot them doing so was Belgium – while Domenico Tedesco was in charge.
The returning 32-year-old kept three clean sheets in his last five games at international level in 2022 and 2023 and lost just one of them. Now, he makes his return to international duty after a self-imposed exile of 22 months, and he’ll be desperate to pick up where he left off.
Garcia’s Red Devils have a 52% win probability according to Stake and are expected to progress over two legs against the Ukrainians.