Little prospect of an England landslide

SPORTS BETTING:

ENGLAND’S footballers are two victories away from booking a place in next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.

Home wins on Friday against Montenegro and Poland next Tuesday will see them through, but qualifying should never have been so tight.

I like coach Roy Hodgson. He is a decent man and rarely ducks a question. But he has a pragmatic approach which means while he is in charge, England won’t play an expansive game.

You can argue that Hodgson’s tactics got us as far as we were worth in Euro 2012 - a penalty shoot-out defeat by Italy in the quarter-finals was no disgrace.

But Hodgson went into that tournament with virtually no preparation and was forced into a safety-first approach. It would have been nice for our footballers to kick on from the experience and perform well in their World Cup qualifying group. But we have seen the same “we shall not lose” performances and, as a consequence, England have drawn against sides they should have beaten comfortably.

We now arrive at two games we must win - which brings a change of emphasis.

Will Hodgson’s inherent caution prevail or can England produce the high-tempo, bold approach needed?

It’s not easy to change the style of a team overnight; it concerns me that our next two rivals will probably do exactly what England have been doing – stifling the opposition and refusing to commit men forward.

England should not be 16-1 ON to qualify for the finals. Neither should they be as short as 1-3 to beat Montenegro on Friday. I anticipate a dour struggle in which the visitors will pack their defence and make it difficult for the likes of Rooney, Sturridge, Lambert, Welbeck or Defoe to find space.

For that reason, England might have more joy with shots from distance - and in skipper Steven Gerrard they have the right man. I quite fancy him to lead the way by opening the scoring at odds of 10-1.

Rooney is the 4-1 favourite, followed by Sturridge at 5-1, Defoe 11-2 and Welbeck 6-1.



RECOMMENDATION: Steven Gerrard to score first goal v Montenegro, 10-1 (Ladbrokes).