England under-21s will be looking to keep up their 100% record in qualification for the European Championships when they travel to Belgium on Monday (Belgium U21 3/1, draw 5/2, England U21 8/11).
Stuart Pearce’s side have made a perfection start in Group 8, taking the maximum 12 points available from their first four games.
Belgium U21 v England U21 (19:45)
England look a class above any side in Group 8 and should be taken to make it five wins from five against Belgium at 8/11.
Pearce will be delighted with the way his young lions have performed so far in scoring 16 goals in those four games, conceding just one goal along the way. They have proven to be a real force at this level.
One of the stars of the year for the under-21s has been West Brom defender Craig Dawson. The 21-year-old signed for the Premier League side in the summer after making the switch from his home town club Rochdale, where he helped them secure their first promotion in 36 years into League One.
Dawson has stepped into the England set-up with relative ease and looks more than comfortable in Pearce’s back four. Despite playing at centre back, he has scored four goals in five games for his national side and looks a real threat in the air from set pieces.
Arsenal youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is another who has proven how comfortable he is at playing international football. The former Southampton youngster was subject to a lot of attention from a number of Premier League clubs before he made the move to the Emirates.
The 18-year-old was outstanding against Iceland when he went away with the match ball after scoring a hat-trick and could be a prominent member of the full national side in the future.
This England side really do have plenty of options on the attacking front. This was evident against Iceland when Gary Gardner came off the bench to score two goals in the game. Usually, the Aston Villa midfielder is forced to settle for a place on the bench, such is the quality Pearce has at his disposal.
Belgium have failed to qualify for the European Under-21 Championships in their last two attempts and they have a difficult task to make it this time around after picking up just five points from their opening four games.
Although they have only lost once so far in this campaign, they have drawn games from which they should have been taking maximum points.
When England travel to Antwerp, it will be the home side’s biggest test to date and it will be difficult for them to contain the young English side.
There looks to be real value in the 13/8 on offer for England to be leading at half-time and full-time at Olympisch.
For those searching for even more value, look no further than England to win the game 3-0 at odds of 12/1.
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