Venezuela U20 v England U20: Back both sides to oblige in showpiece final

Venezuela U20 v England U20

Sunday 11th June, 11:00

Live on Eurosport

Venezuela U20

Venezuela have never qualified for a senior World Cup and had never progressed to the quarter-finals of any global tournament in their history. So the current U20 crop's place in the final of the competition already ranks as the nation's greatest achievement in world football.

Senior head coach Rafael Dudamel took charge of the squad coming into the tournament and has been overwhelmed by his side's success. La Vinotinto breezed through the group stages but required extra-time or penalties in all three of their knockout ties to venture this far.

Venezuela were without two suspended defenders in their semi-final triumph against South American foes Uruguay but came through thanks to the exceptional exploits of goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez. Watford's Adalberto Penaranda , Manchester City's Yangel Herrera and Sergio Cordova have also caught the eye for La Vinotinto.

England U20

The Young Lions have become the first English side to reach a World Cup final since 1966 thanks to their 3-1 victory over Italy in the semi-finals. Paul Simpson's side were by behind in the second minute but battled back in an impressive second-half performance.

New Liverpool signing Dominic Solanke and Everton's Ademola Lookman were both on target - the duo have now shared six goals apiece in the knockout stages - whilst substitute Sheyi Ojo made an exceptional impact off the bench, assisting two of the Young Lions' goals.

Simpson - who's raved about the close-knit nature of this England team, praising their "steely determination" - must now decide whether to give Ojo a start whilst also pondering a recall for Josh Onomah following the winger's suspension.

Match Odds

England are worthy 2.12 favourites to win in 90 minutes having recorded W5-D1-L0 en-route to the final four. All five triumphs were achieved in normal time whilst the Young Lions have shipped just three goals across nine hours of action.

The Young Lions should also be the fresher of the two sides heading into the match, as Venezuela 3.85 have had to play 120 minutes in all three of their knockout games thus far.

However, La Vinotinto have leaked only two goals thus far - a very dubious penalty in the semi-final and a consolation goal against USA when the Last 16 clash was as good as over. They'll also be boosted by the return of key central defender Williams Velasquez here.

The underdogs have notched 14 goals with nine different players getting on the scoresheet and they'll offer England an awkward proposition with pace, tenacity and power in bundles across the park.

Both Teams To Score

Collectively, the two finalists have conceded just five goals between them in 12 matches at the World Cup but both camps would be happy to admit their main strengths are in attack.

England have scored in all bar one of their past 20 games and in the likes of Lewis Cook, Lookman and Solanke have an array of quality players capable of unlocking the most stubborn of opposition defences.

Venezuela's high defensive line should give the Young Lions opportunities on the counter-attack but the South Americans boast final-third menaces of their own; Samuel Sosa has already demonstrated his outstanding set-piece skills whilst Cordova and Penaranda are both likely to pose problems for England.

La Vinotinto are yet to be silenced in South Korea and, with the Young Lions having conceded in two of their three knockout ties already, I'm happy to assume the trend will continue in Suwon, making Both Teams To Score our favoured approach at 5/4.

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Back Both Teams To Score @ 5/4