England vs Argentina prediction and odds: World Cup Match 5

World Cup meetings between England and Argentina in France conjure up memories of Michael Owen’s brilliance, Beckham’s petulance and a missed David Batty penalty from 1998, but none of that will be on offer in Marseilles on Saturday evening as the two sides go head to head in their opening pool game.

England vs Argentina – match predictions

With Argentina winning the last clash between the sides back in November of last year at Twickenham, there is some added spice to this clash. England went all the way to the final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup but very few experts expect to see Stuart Lancaster’s side get beyond the quarter finals this time. Read on to see our predictions for this match.

Argentina to win @ 2.00 (1/1)

England may well have a excellent overall record against Argentina but it is the South Americans who come into this match in much the stronger form. With England losing to Fiji for the first time in their final warm up fixture, to cap off a very poor 2023 so far, Argentina were busy scoring 62 points as they saw off Spain with no issues.

The South Americans have good memories of Rugby World Cups in France after reaching the semi-final stage and ending with the bronze medal in 2007.  And with England without their suspended captain Owen Farrell and number eight Billy Vunipola for the same reason, we expect the Pumas to come out on top.

Emiliano Boffelli to be Player of the Match @ 8.00 (7/1)

The 28 year old Edinburgh back does not need a second invitation to show off his kicking prowess and England would be well advised to not give away penalties anywhere near kicking range. Also more than adept with the ball in hand, he will start on the wing and will have plenty of opportunities to register points.

Stop-start England are ripe for being upset in Marseilles

Argentina’s preparations have been far less chaotic than England’s and they will be confident that they can pick up another win in this game.

England

At times it has seemed like a thankless task for Stuart Lancaster who took the reins at England in December last year and has barely had a chance to think with the Six Nations coming shortly after followed by the Summer Series and now this Rugby World Cup. In an ideal world, Lancaster would be taking over after this tournament but as it is, he leads a team who have 12 defeats from their last 18.

Argentina

With a couple of close defeats against the current Rugby World Cup champions South Africa ahead of the big win over Spain, Argentina will arrive in Marseilles with their chest’s puffed out and in confident mood.  They also have plenty of experienced heads in their team who will know how to manage the game should they get ahead.

England vs Argentina head to head

This will be the 26th contest between England and Argentina with the Europeans winning 19 of them and all three which have taken place at a neutral venue.

• Date and time: Saturday 9 September, 20:00 UK time
• Venue: Stade Vélodrome, Marseilles
• How to watch: ITV