Weekend Review: England’s debut duo shine as Tuchel tenure has lift off

Thomas Tuchel’s reign as England boss got off to a winning start on a weekend of international football results that favoured the punters. 

The Three Lions (9/100) welcomed Albania (29/1) to Wembley on Friday night before running out 2-0 victors, courtesy of a goal from debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly and a customary Harry Kane strike in the second half. 

Elsewhere in the international break, a host of UEFA Nations League fixtures were played out between some of the continent’s strongest teams, with bookmakers failing to gain much of an advantage.

Spain (3/5) played out a dramatic 3-3 draw in the second leg of a quarter-final showdown against the Netherlands (18/5). The pair couldn’t be separated over the course of two legs, with the tie ending 5-5 on aggregate, before Spain ran out 5-4 winners on penalties. 

There was more spot-kick drama at the Stade de France, with France (1/4) needing a shootout to get the better of Croatia (8/1) after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate. 

Portugal (1/2) eventually toppled Denmark (5/1), overcoming a 2-0 scoreline from the first leg to progress to the semi-final following a 5-2 second-leg win. 

Despite failing to get the better of their Italian (3/1) visitors in Dortmund, Germany (9/10) also booked their place in the final four after a 3-3 draw at home was enough to see them get through as 5-4 aggregate winners. 

Belgium (9/20) made light work of Ukraine (5/10), cruising to a 3-0 home victory that proved to be Kindred Group’s worst result of the weekend, according to Ali Gill. 

“Another international break means a quieter weekend, but we did at least finish with a bit of a flourish on Sunday with some big games in the Nations League,” Gill explained. 

“Overall, these definitely went the way of the players, with goals galore almost always favouring backers. Spain’s 3-3 draw actually saw us finish just about ahead, but other than that, France’s win over Croatia and Portugal’s 5-2 win over Denmark both very much left us behind, as did Belgium’s win over Ukraine, which finished our worst result of the weekend.” 

England’s win followed a similar pattern: “England’s new era started on Friday and, in honesty, excitement always looked tough in a fixture against Albania,” Gill added. “At 2-0 it was nothing really to write home about, but players did manage to take some profit from the result.” 

Betfred’s Alan Firkins echoed a similar sentiment, saying: “England are presently involved in World Cup qualifiers during the latest, much-dreaded international break, so on Friday the Thomas Tuchel era really began in earnest with an underwhelming 2-0 win against Albania at Wembley. 

“One or two plusses – first-time starter Myles Lewis-Skelly was bright and even opened the scoring, Harry Kane expertly buried his 70th goal for his country, while man-mountain and fellow defensive debutant Dan Burn cut an imposing and effective figure in both penalty boxes.” 

Firkins, like Gill, noted that Betfred players are likely to have enjoyed the Nations League action. He remarked: “Far more excitement was to be had over the weekend in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals with goals, extra-time and penalty drama aplenty among some of the continent’s elite. I suspect our customers enjoyed all that glorious mayhem far more.” 

Meanwhile, with Cheltenham Festival over for another year, attention on the horseracing front turns to next month’s Grand National. Over at Fairyhouse, 11/4 Intense Raffles came second to 5/6 favourite Nick Rockett in the Bobbyjo Chase.

Firkins issued an assessment ahead of April’s action at Aintree: “Our current 6/1 jolly Intense Raffles was stretching his legs under JJ Slevin the other day, as the seven-year-old gelding looks to add to his National collection after taking the Irish equivalent last April off a mark of 140,” he said.

“He’s off 151 now, but if there’s no shuffling in the weights should any of the top ones defect, he’s set to carry 10st 10lb, which is a lovely racing weight for this undoubtedly classy performer. He’ll do nicely for me, carrying those legendary double-green silks of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.” 

Southwell’s Friday night races saw one punter turn a £20 bet with Ladbrokes into just shy of £100,000, according to the Racing Post. 

Staking two bets, a £1 Lucky 15 consisting of four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one four-fold and a £5 win four-fold, the St Helens-based backer came out on top.

Having bet on 14/1 Dutch Kingdom, 12/1 King of Fury, 6/1 Toby Tops and 10/1 Sevensees, none of the runners went off as favourites.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes remarked: “Our plucky punter truly has put the luck in Lucky 15 here. You’ll do well to find a closer finish than Friday night’s 7.00pm at Southwell. And while there was still a long way to go in the bet at the time, that short-head victory for Dutch Kingdom ended up being the £95,000 difference maker for our customer. 

“To land the Lucky 15 to the tune of £21,500 was one thing, but to back the 15,000-1 four-fold with a fiver on top – coupled with that early drama – means this has to go down as one of the best bets we’ve seen in recent years.” 

Elsewhere, the Chinese Grand Prix went the way of Oscar Piastri, a victory that Gill noted saw Kindred Group “finish with a healthy margin” as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton failed to threaten the podium.