World Cup 2022: Chris Sutton explains his England v Wales prediction

Chris Sutton is backing England to book their place in the knockout phase of the 2022 World Cup with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Wales in Qatar on Tuesday night.

The Three Lions head into the game looking to return to winning ways after they were held to a goalless draw by the USA in their most recent group outing on Friday.

England are currently top of Group B and a point ahead of second-placed Iran heading into the final round of group-stage fixtures.

Wales suffered a demoralising 2-0 defeat by Iran in their second group game and currently find themselves bottom of the group, having only earned a point from their 1-1 draw with the USA in their opener in Qatar.

Former Chelsea FC striker Sutton feels that England will simply have too much quality for their neighbours on Tuesday night and he is backing the Three Lions to seal their progress to the round of 16 with a comfortable victory.

He also feels that England boss Gareth Southgate’s decision not to pick Phil Foden so far has been blow out of proportion.

Writing in his column for BBC Sport, Sutton said: “The reaction to Gareth Southgate not picking Phil Foden so far is over the top and utterly ridiculous. The bigger concern is England’s overall performance here after what happened against the United States.

“England have got to find their identity again and I’m confident they will do it. Meanwhile, Wales are looking for one last hurrah from their aging stars but I don’t see it happening.

“I predicted Wales would finish bottom of Group B, and it looks like I am going to be right.

“This could end up being quite a big scoreline but I actually think England might stop when they get to three goals because they will feel sorry for the Welsh.”

Meanwhile, former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jermaine Jenas has called on England manager Southgate to make “wholesale changes” for the clash against Wales, claiming that doing so would stand the Three Lions in good stead heading into the latter stages of the tournament.

Jenas feels that England would still have enough quality to be able to win Tuesday night’s game even if Southgate were to ring the changes.

“Southgate has got to start making changes quicker and have a bigger influence on these players when they are on the pitch – and he has to mix up his squad now, even if he doesn’t want to,” Jenas told BBC Sport.

“I would make wholesale changes for this game, based on the fact we have so much depth that we should be able to win this game anyway.

“That probably won’t happen, though. I think if even if Southgate makes only two changes, then that is massive for him – but not making more will have a knock-on effect going into the latter stages of the tournament.”