England women start their Euro 2022 build-up with a friendly against Belgium at Molineux on Thursday. Joe Rindl previews the match, picking out a best bet.
Following Wednesday's announcement of England's final 23-player squad for the Euros, headlined by the omission of former captain Steph Houghton and inclusion of midfield stalwart Jill Scott and the mercurial Fran Kirby, it is now full steam ahead to this summer's European Championship.
It is fewer than three few weeks until hosts England start their tournament at home to Austria at Old Trafford, with Thursday's match against Belgium Sarina Wiegman’s first opportunity to start formulating what her first choice starting XI may be.
The Lionesses will also face holders the Netherlands, at Elland Road, and travel to Switzerland before the tournament begins on July 6.
Belgium, ranked 20th in the world, will provide a decent benchmark for Wiegman and her team having won five of their past seven fixtures and lost just once since the start of 2021 - a run of 11 matches.
When these sides last met a fraction under three years ago, England led by two goals in Leuven only to throw that away and require a late Nikita Parris penalty to rescue a 3-3 draw.
Only a win will do in Wolverhampton. England are rightly 1/7 for victory as they head into the contest unbeaten in 11 - a run which has included wins over Germany and draws with highly-ranked Canada and Spain - and 12 places higher than the Belgians in the FIFA world rankings.
The 6/4 about ENGLAND TO WIN AND OVER 3.5 GOALS with Sky Bet appeals greatly - a winner in eight of England's 11 games during their unbeaten sequence.
Odds correct at 1700 BST (15/06/22)
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