INTERNATIONAL BETTING PREVIEW - ENGLAND VS WALES

International

2025-10-09 - England vs Wales

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

England v Wales
Football: International Friendly
Thursday 9th October 2025 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV

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England

The start of the Thomas Tuchel era has been lacking some inspiration, but all of England would have been really happy to see the result and the performance in Serbia last month. With three World Cup Qualifiers left to play, England are well on their way to booking a place in the Finals for next summer, although the hard work has only just begun for the manager and the squad.

Credit has to be given to Thomas Tuchel for showing that he is not afraid of making big decisions and some of the omissions from the October international squad highlight how full of self-belief the manager really is. He will be judged on results and England have yet concede a competitive goal under his management, although the friendly defeat to Senegal will have been a disappointment.

England have won 8 of their last 9 games in all competitions and have won all 5 games played in the World Cup Qualifying Group. The nations have won 5 of their last 7 home games, but international friendlies are rare occurrences these days and England have lost their last 2 home games in that setting to Senegal and Iceland.

The manager did give a few players an opportunity to impress in the last friendly against Senegal and Thomas Tuchel is likely to do the same in this fixture.

Wales

Newer fans of the Welsh National Football team have been spoiled by some of the recent successes with the nation playing in major tournament Finals in 2016 and 2020 on the continent, as well as the 2022 World Cup Finals in Qatar. It has increased expectation and Craig Bellamy knows his time will be judged on whether he can get Wales to the North American continent next month or not.

A friendly against England is going to be anything but, although the main focus for the manager and the players has to be the big World Cup Qualifier against Belgium next week. At a minimum, Wales need to be targeting a top two finish in the World Cup Qualifying Group so they can at least earn a Play Off spot, but even that is going to be a challenge and fans will be very interested in the Belgium vs North Macedonia fixture to be played on Friday.

Wales are also part of a five team Group meaning they have a few days where they can schedule friendly matches and they were beaten 0-1 at home by Canada in the September international break. However, it is the 0-1 win in Kazakhstan in the same window that matters most to Bellamy and his players, while Wales had only lost 1 of their previous 12 games in all competitions prior to the defeat to the Canadians.

There are a few Premier League level players in the Welsh squad, but the majority are playing out of the top Division in England and actually in the Championship or League One.

Head to Head

England beat Wales 3-0 in an international friendly in October 2020.

They have since beaten them at the 2022 World Cup in another 3-0 win and that is the last time these two nations have played one another.

England have won 7 in a row against the Welsh.

Prediction

The World Cup Qualifying campaign is clearly the priority for both managers, but there is this feeling that England can place more stock into this international friendly compared with Wales.

There is no doubting how much Craig Bellamy loves his nation and he will be aware that the fans will not want Wales to roll over for England, but the manager has to have one eye on the big World Cup Qualifier coming up.

Wales will be hosting Belgium and a win in that fixture will perhaps give Craig Bellamy's the inside edge to reach the World Cup Finals next summer.

On the other side, Thomas Tuchel's men recorded a thumping 0-5 win in Serbia last month and that means England have virtually secured top spot in the section. Next up is an away game at Latvia which should not pose a lot of problems, although you have to respect the host no matter who they are.

With that in mind, Tuchel can pick a strong eleven and he will be looking for England to get into a mindset of wanting to win every game. The team were beaten in their last international friendly, but England have won 8 of the last 9 games overall and the players should be aware of how much this fixture will mean to the fans.

England have won 7 in a row against Wales and the last two by the same 3-0 scoreline.

It may not be as comfortable as that, but England should be able to score a late goal to put a gloss on the final scoreline as Wales likely choose to avoid risking key players ahead of a much more important match.

The Pick :

England 2-0 Wales

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back England - 1.5 Asian Handicap at 1.80 with SportBet.One