Preview: England vs Panama

England got there in the end against Tunisia, and there’s every chance another nerve-wracking 90 minutes awaits against a physical Panama side who made life difficult for Belgium in the first half on Monday.

It’s worth remembering, though, just how dominant England were in the first 25 minutes against a Tunisia side that had been unfairly written off beforehand. It’s been a long time since England have looked as dynamic and threatening in a tournament game, and it was only after Dele Alli picked up an injury that things changed.

Quite why he stayed on the pitch for a further 50 minutes is something of a mystery given the able deputies on the bench, but England never recovered the snap to their game until first Marcus Rashford and later Ruben Loftus-Cheek were introduced.

And, of course, England have Harry Kane, who should be full of confidence after breaking his tournament duck in that opening game.

Kane has opened the scoring in four of England’s last five competitive games, while the team have scored exactly two goals in their last three games and haven’t scored three or more in a World Cup finals game since 2002.

Put all that together with Panama’s lack of attacking threat and 8/1 for Harry Kane to score first in a 2-0 England win looks like a pretty tidy bit of business here.

Kane to score another brace at 2/1 is also perfectly reasonable. Monday night’s double was his third in seven England games and his Tottenham record is peppered with streaks of multiple scoring. He has twice scored Premier League hat-tricks in successive games, while his previous two England doubles came in successive appearances – albeit three months apart.

The 5/6 on offer for any goal to be scored in the first 29 minutes of the game also looks worth considering. England have scored in the 7th, 11th and 13th minutes of their last three matches

·         Harry Kane to score first and England to win 2-0 – 8/1

·         Harry Kane to score two or more – 2/1

·         Any goal before 29:00 – 5/6