Kick-off: 1645, 04/02/2023
Stadium: Twickenham
TV: ITV
Scotland have claimed the Calcutta Cup after four of the last five meetings with England and should be competitive again at Twickenham.
The hosts head into this Six Nations match with a rookie international coach and have been rocked by a few injury problems.
We like 4/5 for the visitors getting 10.5 points start on the handicap list for our first England vs Scotland prediction.
England Odds
Eddie Jones ended his long England reign on a low note after winning just one of four autumn internationals at this venue.
A summer series win in Australia was an admirable effort, but third place in what proved to be his final Six Nations was far from good enough.
After opening with a narrow loss to Scotland in Edinburgh, England got the better of Italy and Wales but were then soundly beaten by Ireland and France.
Steve Borthwick is the man charged with getting the 2020 table toppers back on track, having lifted Leicester out of the doldrums to domestic glory.
He has minimal time to lay the foundations of a resurgence, but will make the project easier by adopting a back-to-basics approach.
“I said to the players to expect basic preparation from the management team for the first game, then we will get better in terms of how we prepare the team,” said Borthwick.
“There will be some tactical changes but clearly in the preparation time that we have, those will be minimal.”
Centre Henry Slade, vice-captain Courtney Lawes and promising youngster Dan Kelly have been ruled out through injury.
It may take a while for the hosts to warm up, so 10/11 for the Scots with five points start in the first half appeals from the England vs Scotland odds.
Scotland Odds
Scotland failed to build on last season’s bright start, with Italy their only other victims in this tournament.
There was no disgrace in a narrow series loss in Argentina, though, and the autumn games brought more encouragement.
The Pumas and Fiji tasted defeat at Murrayfield, while Australia only scraped home by one point and the All Blacks were given a decent work-out.
Scotland may benefit from slipping under the radar this term, having been hyped up a little too much 12 months ago.
Edinburgh and Glasgow have been enjoying strong campaigns and a training camp on the Costa Blanca went well.
“I think we’re in a good place, definitely,” said new captain Jamie Ritchie.
“Both club teams are in good form and the guys who play away from Scotland are playing well as well.
“We take confidence from the games in the autumn. A couple of them didn’t go our way but I think in all four games we were probably the better team for the majority of them.
“We let the Australia game slip, and the New Zealand one as well, but we’re in a good place as a squad and looking forward to the campaign.”
We feel the visitors are better placed to hit the ground running and 6/5 for them to score first is added to our England vs Scotland betting tips.
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