Chris Waddle explains why England will thrash Wales and backs Southgate even though he doesn’t think he’ll win World Cup
ENGLAND legend Chris Waddle is confident the Three Lions will thrash Wales at the World Cup.
The Three Lions and the Dragons meet in the Battle of Britain on Tuesday at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in their final match of the group stage.
Gareth Southgate‘s men will top Group B if they win and a draw would be enough to qualify to the Last 16, although if Iran beat USA then England will finish second.
Wales, on the other hand, need to beat their British counterpart with a score of at least 4-0 to have any hopes of going through after their drab 1-1 draw with USA and their shock 2-0 loss to Iran.
Waddle, who amassed 62 England caps, does expect a 4-0 result but predicts it will be the other way around.
The Tottenham and Newcastle great believes Southgate’s side will stand tall because Gareth Bale and co will chase for goals and that will leave them exposed at the back.
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Waddle told SunSport: “I’m gonna say England win because I think Wales are gonna chase and they’re not the best defensively, let’s be honest.
“Losing [Wayne] Hennessey is a bit of a blow, it’d be interesting to see what Wales do. Do they sit tight and think, ‘We’ll give them an hour and then we’ll throw everything at it’?
“But if I was Wales then might as well go for it and if you get caught on the break and get hammered then you get hammered.
“Listen, you might as well show ambition and say, ‘Look we are going to try and score four goals’ which when you look at it it’s a very tall order but if you don’t have a go at it you’ll never know so I’d be very surprised if they sit back and think, ‘We’ll get a draw’.
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“I’m gonna go 4-0 England. I’m gonna say Harry Kane is gonna get off the mark. I think he will get two and I think we will see the introduction of [Phil] Foden and I think he’ll score.”
England got their World Cup campaign off to a flying start with a 6-2 win over Iran.
But the Three Lions’s celebrations were short-lived as they then sustained a hapless 0-0 draw with the US.
England are practically through to the knockouts, as long as they don’t lose 4-0 to Wales and Iran don’t beat America in the final round of fixtures.
But questions were risen regarding Southgate’s tactics and choices in the starting line-up, with many left baffled by Manchester City ace Phil Foden’s omission.
This comes after a disastrous Nations League campaign that saw England relegated from the competition’s top flight.
However, Waddle still has full faith in the 52-year-old tactician as he insists he’s the right man for the job after leading the nation to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and Euro 2020 final.
But the former attacking midfielder doesn’t think the World Cup is coming home because the performances are too “inconsistent”.
Waddle said when asked if the draw with USA hampers Southgate’s position: “No. The Nations League was a disaster, let’s be honest. But again, players looked tired, we played three at the back and went back on four.
“I think with the squad we’ve got we look better as a four even though we lack pace at the back. We look better in a four, we don’t need three against the teams we play. He may go back to three against a good side, which is good to have if we can be flexible. I like that.
“But no, just because we had a bad Nations League, if you’re gonna look at it like that then that means Hansi Flick of Germany should lose his job. He’s just only been in it for a year.
“You look at other teams who haven’t done well in Europe and aren’t in the World Cup. Did they all get the sack? I think it’s the easiest thing to say if you get bad results. Let’s sack the manager.
“Players like Gareth Southgate and I think he’s done a terrific job to get us in the semi-finals of a World Cup and a final in the Euros. I think he’s been brilliant.
“Yes, it’s been very patchy, form is not great and we will be inconsistent and that’s why I don’t think we will win it. But there’s no reason we can’t get in the quarters.”
“Chris Waddle was speaking at the launch of William Hill’s ‘Home Shop’ in Hillsborough, Sheffield.”