Thursday International Football Cheat Sheet: Best bets for England v Serbia and more | OneFootball

World Cup 2026

Get the best bets for England v Serbia and more on Thursday

Get the best bets for Thursday's World Cup qualifiers including England v Serbia at Wembley, the Republic of Irelandv Portugal and more...

England v Serbia tips and predictions

England v SerbiaThursday 13 November, 19:45Live on ITVX, ITV 1, STV & UTV

Back Bellingham to star in 13/1 Bet Builder

Dave Tindall: Much discussion has been made of Jude Bellingham and England over the last few months, firstly surrounding his omission and then his return. There's a school of thought that England cannot win a World Cup without the Real Madrid man sprinkling some magic dust at some point. And I'd agree with that.

After all, despite some mixed performances in the 2024 Euros, Bellingham got eventual finalists England out of jail with an injury-time equaliser in the last 16 against Slovakia while he'd scored the Three Lions' first goal of the tournament when heading home in a 1-0 win over... Serbia.

You get the feeling he'll be desperate to show that he's absolutely worth a place in the starting line-up and I'll back him to repeat what he did against Serbia last time and get the game's opening goal. Put a Bellingham opener in with a Kane anytime goal and an England win and that pays just over 13/1.

Back Rice/Anderson double at 4/1

Stephen Tudor: Arsenal's main man and Forest's heart and lungs have been pivotal in England's revival, the stats backing this up. In beating Andorra, Serbia, Wales and Latvia, the international newbie Anderson made 10 recoveries per 90, won 6.5 duels per game and racked up 265 completed passes in the opposition half. Overall, he has boasted a 93% pass average.

Indeed, keeping things ticking over is a fundamental element of this brilliant partnership. Only three midfielders are in the top ten for accurate passes in the Premier League this term. There is Martin Zubimendi and this pair.

Another of his strengths lies in winning free-kicks, with England posing a consistent threat at set-pieces. For Forest, Anderson has drawn a remarkable 3.2 per 90 fouls across his last 12 starts. As for Rice, six goal involvements in his last eight England starts demonstrates his attacking worth from deep, as does 1.7 key passes per 90 in his last four. In Serbia two months back he ventured seven shots, three of which were on target.

Back Kane to score 2 or more

The Stat

Harry Kane is England's all-time leading scorer at Wembley with 30 goals in 38 appearances, scoring in each of his last four at the national stadium - he's never scored in five in a row. Only three players have scored in five consecutively at Wembley - Bobby Charlton (1958/59), Peter Crouch (2009/10) and Wayne Rooney (six in a row, 2014/15). But Kane has been so impressive this season that he may be worth backing to score more than once on Thursday.

The Bet

More World Cup qualifers tips and predictions

19:45 - Republic of Ireland v Portugal: Back visitors for shots

Kevin Hatchard: If the Republic are indeed going to batten down the hatches again, it doesn't look unreasonable to back the visitors to have 20 goal attempts or more at 5/4 on the Sportsbook.

Portugal had 20 against Hungary on home soil, 15 in Hungary and 24 in Armenia. Make no mistake, the Republic will try to cling on for a point to give themselves a chance of taking a top-two spot by winning in Hungary. Portugal will play on the front foot to try to seal qualification as quickly as possible.

Republic of Ireland v Portugal: Back Ronaldo shots at 9/5

The Stat

Only two players have attempted more shots during UEFA World Cup qualifying than Cristiano Ronaldo (26), who has five goals in four appearances. He had five shots without scoring at the Aviva Stadium against the Republic of Ireland in November 2021 in a goalless draw.

The Bet

19:45 - France v Ukraine: Back bet builder at 3/1

Paul Higham: A bit of a stumble from France last time with a 2-2 draw in Iceland but that should just sharpen them up for Ukraine, with a 1/7 home win booking their spot at World Cup 2026. In truth a draw will probably do, but with Ukraine needing to win to stand a chance of pinching top spot then a draw's pretty unlikely.

Ukraine will give it a go after seven goals scored in back-to-back wins so will carry a threat, but that's dangerous with the counter attacking skills France have - including Michael Olise who scored in the first fixture and is due another goal involvement.