As is always the case with England and a major football tournament, there is optimism heading into it. They’re priced as the fourth favourite at 9/1, ahead of Belgium, Portugal and Italy. As fourth favourites, the minimum expectation should be to reach the semi-finals at 5/1, but expect the inevitable inquest to begin if they’re eliminated at the quarter final stages again. You can get odds of that happening at 12/5.
An unbeaten qualifying campaign with 10 wins from 10 matches, as well as good results in friendlies against Germany, France and Italy has only managed to raise expectations. One of the discoveries of Leicester’s title winning season was Jamie Vardy, and although he’s unlikely to start as England’s first choice striker, he’s priced at 21/10 to score at any time on Saturday. Harry Kane scored 25 goals last season and is a contender for the Euro 2016 Golden Boot if he finds the back of the net. At 13/1, he’s good value to do it and he’ll look to fill his boots in a relatively simple group. England’s defence is the cause for concern. It’s not the personnel that are the issue, but the form that they were in at the end of the season. There are lapses in concentration and a slow start could lead to Russia scoring first at 17/10.
It’s a case of a Fabio Capello derby when England face Russia on Saturday night. Capello famously managed England until deciding to leave just weeks before Euro 2012. He also managed Russia until August last year, when current manager Leonid Slutsky took over and guided his team to four consecutive qualifying wins. They should make it out of this group, but it is more likely to be in a second or third place, rather than group winners. They’re at 16/5 to win the group, however they’ll have to beat England to do it. Their tournament preparation has been hampered somewhat by injuries to all of their starting midfield from the qualifiers. Artem Dzyuba is the key striker and scored 23 goals last season for Zenit. At 6 ft. 5, he’ll look to bully the English defence and is at 3/1 to score at any time on Saturday night.
Match Prediction
Russia have an ageing defence, whilst England are young and quick. It’s still unclear as to what we can expect to see from Roy Hodgson and the England team. Their performances in the warm ups got gradually worse, and it appears that he’s trying to implement a more adventurous style which conflicts with his long held conservative beliefs. Taking the aerial route could be the best option for Russia, with Dzyuba in the box to head it into the goal. One thing that must be taken into account is the referee Nicola Rizzoli, who issued 10 red cards last season, he’s 14/5 to display another one tomorrow. As for a score prediction, a 2-1 England victory is priced at 17/2.
