It’s now or never for Roy Hodgson in England’s Last 16 match with Iceland. Managers live and die on their swords and the England man is no different, he’s been bullish in his response to criticism of his management so far, but he has a dream first knockout tie, in which England are overwhelming favourites at 20/41. Iceland have already achieved what they wanted to do in the tournament, but a victory this evening would be the icing on the cake for everyone’s favourite second team.
England haven’t played Iceland since 2004. On that occasion, Wayne Rooney scored twice in a 6-1 win for the Three Lions. He’s set to be recalled for tonight’s game, and is priced at 11/1 to replicate his 2004 performance and score two or more goals. He played upfront back in 2004 and has now dropped down the pitch and plays in the midfield. Hodgson is set to pick the misfiring Harry Kane upfront today. The Tottenham player has struggled for form in the tournament so far and looks tired, but with good service, and in a game that England are likely to dominate, he’s at 4/1 to score first this evening. An English victory would set up a quarter final showdown with host nation France, and although they’d go into that game as underdogs, a big victory tonight would see confidence and morale boosted. Iceland have had the least possession of any side in the Euros so far, meaning that this game is going to be similar to how the opposition set up against England in the group. They’ll sit deep and hit on the counter attack. England struggled to make their possession and chances count in the group, and with it being the knockout stages, they’ll have to be more clinical in attack.
Iceland may well have had the lowest percentage of possession of any side in the tournament, but they’ve made it count, as they’ve scored more goals than England have so far. All of their games have featured goals from both sides and this is well priced at 29/20. Gylfi Siggurddson is their star players and favourite to score anytime for them at 7/2. They’ve selected the same side throughout the tournament and are set to do so again this evening. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson is their striker, but he’s made Carlton Cole look prolific in the tournament so far. He’s had 2 shots on goal, neither being on target, meaning that Siggurddson will be their focal point if they want something to happen. Their goalkeeper, Hannes Thor Halldorsson has made more saves than any keeper so far with 18, and he’s priced at 15/4 to repel all of England’s attack and keep a clean sheet.
Match Prediction
The two previous encounters between England and Iceland have produced 9 goals. England have never lost to the Nordic nation, having drawn in 1982 and the victory in 2004. Expect to see something similar to the group games, with England camped around the Icelandic box, trying to get through their defence. The longer it remains 0-0, the more it’ll worry the English, whilst Iceland will be quite happy to keep it scoreless for longer. As for a score prediction, a 3-0 England win is priced at 17/2, whilst an England win, with both sides to score is priced at 3/1.
