Charlie Nicholas provides his predictions for Tuesday's World Cup Qualifiers

Charlie Nicholas

Football Expert

Wednesday 12 October 2016 07:46, UK

Charlie Nicholas offers up his latest set of predictions for the World Cup Qualifiers, tipping England to win but Scotland and Northern Ireland to struggle.

Gareth Southgate's side will be looking to maintain their 100 per cent record on Tuesday night when they visit Slovenia, while their neighbours will be keen to avoid losing further ground in Group F as they take on Slovakia after being held by Lithuania.

Over in Group C, Michael O'Neill's Northern Ireland team face a contrasting task to their 4-0 win over San Marino when they visit tournament favourites Germany.

Here's what Charlie is predicting in his Sky Bet tips...

Slovenia v England

It wasn't a glorious performance against Malta but did anybody really expect it to be an exciting game? I thought it should have been four or five but Malta never came out to play.

We know Slovenia are technically decent but have they got enough to take on the big teams? I'm not sure. It's a similar one to the Slovakia game and you'd hope, being the home side, that they try to win the game.

There's this issue with Wayne Rooney,but what are the specifics of it? Are people are suggesting if he doesn't play No. 10 then he doesn't play? Dele Alli has clearly been picked to play somewhere else? There seems to be personal agenda against Rooney and it's annoying one, even for a Scotsman!

What we do know is Gareth Southgate likes Jesse Lingard. He played okay and got in some decent positions but I couldn't get excited about that performance at home to Malta.

This is one of those games where you'll create a few chances, take one and leave with the points but if Southgate is bold enough to stick with the forwards that he picked against a Malta then I think they'll win by more than goal and actually get more of a cut through with Theo Walcott's pace away if it's more of an open game.

Charlie predicts: 0-2 and Walcott to score first (22/1 with Sky Bet)

Germany v Northern Ireland

Well I know they did well there last time they met there's less pressure on the Germans this time, with six points on the board following 3-0 wins over their supposed main rivals to win the group, Czech Republic and Norway.

I love watching different games on Match Choice because I don't always follow the Home Nations and there are games I wanted to see, such as how Spain's new system worked at Albania and how Germany are evolving.

The bad news is they don't really need to change much, with Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos going boom, boom, boom. They're strong, they're quick, they're powerful.

Northern Ireland are well-drilled but I just see how they can get through this one unscathed with so many threats to be wary of. Jonas Hector and Joshua Kimmich are virtually left and right wingers. They hardly ever defend and they are hitting the byline for fun.

Charlie predicts: 2-0 and Muller to score first (9/1 with Sky Bet)

Slovakia v Scotland

Well, I'm a critical Scotland fan but we were awful. I felt it was a must win at home to Lithuania, who should've beaten us, and now it really is.

We're not good enough defensively and we're not good enough on the ball. Gordon Strachan tried changing too much on Saturday. Oliver Burke is a talent but he's not consistent enough to rely on yet.

Think we have to go back to a 4-5-1 formation which means being about the counter-attack.

Sadly I don't feel good about my team at all. We didn't create many chances and I can see Martin Skrtel doing the damage from a set-piece.

Charlie predicts: 1-0 and Skrtel to score first (70/1 with Sky Bet)

You can watch England's tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the British Masters on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price!