The World Cup is almost upon us and all hearts and minds are filled with dreams of England winning the thing! Okay, it might not be all that realistic, but with a dynamic young squad, Roy Hodgson’s men could make a real impact in Brazil.
Let’s leave the dreams for another day, however, as there are a load of international friendly matches to contend with first. Here we take a look at the pick of the weekend’s action as we predict what will have happen and pick out some (hopefully) winning tips.
Friday 30th May 2014
England v Peru (20:00) – England to win by two goals (3/1 with Bet365)
Hodgson’s selection of the likes of Ross Barkley, Raheem Stirling, Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana for his World Cup squad has sent a shudder of excitement down the backbones of England supporters. Hodgson’s (undeserved) reputation of being a conservative and cautious manager have been quashed with the inclusion of some of the most exciting young talent around… but now they have to justify that trust by performing on the pitch. Their first chance to shine will be against South American minnows Peru, who finished seventh out of nine in their – albeit very tough – World Cup qualifying group.
That is not to say that Pablo Bengoechea’s side do not have the capability to cause England some problems. They earned a home draw against Argentina (who are much-fancied for World Cup glory) and also beat Chile, a side who were far better than England when they won 2-0 at Wembley in November. Realistically though, the Three Lions should have more than enough to win this one and though we don’t think it will be the walk in the park the odds of a home win suggest (1/3 with Coral), backing the home side to win by a two goal margin looks a decent shout here.
Spain v Bolivia (21:00) – Half time/full time: draw/Spain (16/5 with BetVictor)
Another match that pits a European side against South American opposition as world and European champions Spain take on Bolivia on Friday night. Like their neighbours Peru, Bolivia failed to qualify for the World Cup, and managed just two wins from their 16 qualifying matches, though one of those notably came against Luis Suarez’s Uruguay in an impressive display that ended with a 4-1 triumph in La Paz.
Spain are understandably one of the favourites to win the World Cup in Brazil, and boss Vincente del Bosque has a wealth of talent at his disposal. We expect him to rest some of his bigger players – many of whom competed in the Champions League final at the weekend – and try out some of the fringe players and perhaps experiment with formations. As such we don’t think we will see a wholly fluent display from the home side and we wouldn’t be surprised if Bolivia keep things level until the break. But the class of the Spaniards is sure to win through by the final whistle and we think making use of the half time/full time market here could well pay dividends.
Saturday 31st May 2014
Uruguay v Northern Ireland (00:30) – Uruguay to win to nil (4/5 with Bet365)
Here we cast our eyes over one of England’s World Cup Group D opponents Uruguay. Suarez is currently recovering from an operation on his knee (no rush there, Luis!), so the task of leading the line here is likely to fall on Edison Cavani’s shoulders. The team who finished only fifth in the South American qualifying group and had to rely on a play-off victory against Jordan to make it to Brazil (see, Roy, nothing to fear here!) are expected to beat Michael O’Neill’s men, and given the visitors will be without regular strikers Jamie Ward, Martin Paterson, Will Grigg and Kyle Lafferty, we are inclined to think Uruguay won’t face much opposition.
With the likes of Cliftonville’s Liam Boyce and Accrington Stanley’s James Gray having been called up to bolster the attacking options we can’t imagine Diego Godin and his fellow defenders will be exactly quaking in their boots. As such we fancy a straightforward victory for the home side in which they limit the visitors to speculative snapshots. Backing Uruguay to win without conceding looks a very sensible bet to us, so get on it.
Italy v Republic of Ireland (19:45) – Draw at half time (5/4 with Bet365)
Another of England’s Group D opponents is in action against an O’Neill-led Irish side as Martin O’Neill’s Republic take on the Azzurri at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Ireland lost 2-1 at home to Turkey last Sunday and lost by the same scoreline at home to Serbia in March. But those defeats don’t tell the whole story as O’Neill’s men created enough chances to win both games. Whether they’ll be able to create much against the ever-stoic Italian backline remains to be seen, but they have earned good results against them in the past (including two draws in 2009 and their famous 1-0 victory over them in the 1994 World Cup) and though they lost 2-0 to them in Euro 2012, we fancy they will cause some problems.
The coaching combo of O’Neill and Roy Keane is sure to get their troops geed up for this one and though we think Italy will enjoy the lion’s share of possession, we can see Ireland holding out for a draw against Cesare Prandelli’s team. To play it slightly safer, however, we’ll be backing the match to be all-square at the break as there is always the chance the Republic could slip up as they tire in the latter stages. Either way we should get a good idea of what Italy are made of and whether England fans should be anxious about their side’s first match in the World Cup.