England have it all to do

HERE we go again. England expects and all that.

Tonight’s World Cup qualifier against Croatia, in Zagreb, has sparked the usual nonsense in certain sections of the media, but the biggest fallacy of the lot is how good the current crop of England players are.

I have been saying for ages that the vast majority are overrated and, if that’s not bad enough, the one world-class player we have, Steven Gerrard, is out injured tonight and our most likely goalscorer, Michael Owen, has not even been picked for the squad.

So what chance do we have of winning tonight? In my view, very little, so anyone who takes the 9-4 on offer is either too patriotic or has not seen recent matches between these two teams.

Croatia beat England at home and away in the Euro 2008 qualifiers and much the most likely result tonight is another win for Slaven Bilic’s skilful outfit at 6-4.

New England boss Fabio Capello will already have worked out that his team have huge limitations and I expect him to set his line-up up with a draw in mind.

His talk of going for a win is nothing but a smokescreen, so the 11-5 on offer about both sides picking up a point makes some appeal.




OLDHAM are red-hot favourites to clinch promotion from National League Two.



The Roughyeds take on Doncaster at Boundary Park on Sunday as the 4-5 favourites to win the Grand Final.

And, in all probability, it’s Doncaster who they will be taking on in that contest, even though Sunday’s losers must face another match against the winners of the Rochdale Hornets-Keighley Cougars encounter.

With home advantage this weekend, Oldham should reach the final without having to play a second game.

That would be a major tonic as Doncaster - assuming they go through in the ensuing final qualifier - would be nowhere near as fresh as their big rivals.

Certainly, 15-8 makes little appeal about the South Yorkshire side, while 10-1 about Rochdale or Keighley winning the final just about sums up their chances.




ATHLETIC’S battling 1-0 win at Tranmere on Saturday has seen a further reduction in their odds for the League One title.



John Sheridan’s men are down to a best-priced 9-1, behind Leeds (3-1) and Leicester (4-1).

Athletic are only 5-2 to clinch promotion, having been 8-1 at the start of the season.




LEWIS Hamilton is 4-6 to win the Formula One World Championship despite being stripped of victory in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.



The Briton seems to have only one serious rival in Felipe Massa (13-8) although it was about this time last year that Kimi Raikkonen could be backed at long odds before his late rush for the title.

Raikkonen is 20-1 to overtake the front two, but Hamilton should be good enough this time round.




DESPITE Andrew Murray’s heroics at the US Open, the Scot has taken a walk in the market for this year’s BBC Sports Personality Of The Year award.



Murray is out to 45-1 with bet365 due to the strength of the opposition, headed by double-Olympic swimming goal medallist Rebecca Adlington (13-8), triple-gold cyclist Chris Hoy (11-4) and F1 world-champion elect Hamilton (7-2).




NEXT WEEK: The best bets for the Ryder Cup.