England’s first match since their slightly calamitous World Cup in Brazil is a friendly against Norway at Wembley on Wednesday night. With Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard both having retired, the captain’s armband will now be worn by Wayne Rooney. But can the Manchester United striker inspire the Three Lions to victory here?
England follow this match with their first Euro 2016 qualifier away to Switzerland next week and this friendly will give manager Roy Hodgson the chance to blood some youngsters while trying to find a system that actually works – unlike the one employed during the World Cup. Hodgson has called up four uncapped players to the squad, Arsenal’s Calum Chambers, the left-back Danny Rose from Spurs, Aston Villa’s Fabian Delph and Newcastle’s former Sunderland man Jack Colback. Whether any of these four are yet good enough to make a positive difference to the squad remains to be seen.
Norway shouldn’t prove too troublesome an opponent for England given they are not the side they once were and lack any real quality. Odds of 11/2 with Bet365 for Per-Mathias Høgmo’s men to pull off a shock win might be tempting to some, but not us.
In front of what looks like being the lowest crowd at Wembley for an England match since it reopened, Hodgson will want to give the fans something to cheer… but can his players perform or will Norway nullify the home side’s attacking options? Despite England being priced at just 1/2 with Sky Bet and others, we think Hodgson’s men will have enough ammunition to outgun the visitors and post a victory, and we’ll be placing the following bets to that effect.
England v Norway Betting Tips
- England to win to nil – England hardly set the world on fire in Brazil but they held their own in the most part in their games against all three of their group opponents. Norway are poor, especially in attack, and odds of 7/5 with Bet365 for England to win this one without conceding look too good to turn down.
- Under 2.5 goals – While Norway have a rather lacklustre attack, they are accomplished enough at the back and we could see this one ending 1-0 or maybe 2-0 to the home side, making the 39/40 available with Bet365 for under 2.5 goals worth grabbing.
- More goals to be scored in first half – As is generally the way in international friendly matches, we expect the second half to peter out into a rather dull affair as frequent substitutions rob the match of its pace and momentum. As such, backing the first half to produce more goals than the second looks a fine bet at 21/20 with Bet365.
- England to win 2-0 – It really is a toss up between 1-0 and 2-0 in the correct score market, but we fancy the latter given that Raheem Sterling’s pace is sure to create openings and that Rooney will want to get a goal on his first appearance as permanent captain.