England’s preparations for Euro 2016 will be notched up a gear on Friday as they take on one of their oldest sporting rivals, Australia, in a ‘friendly’ at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
Team News
The concern for English fans is that with Euro 2016 just a fortnight away, Roy Hodgson still appears unsure as to which his best system is. He started with a 4-3-3 in the first half against Turkey, before switching to a midfield diamond in the second period to accommodate Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane in central areas. Given that the Leicester ace netted the winner, you could say it is an experiment that worked.
Hodgson will have no such problems against Australia as Vardy will miss the game, although you could argue that he has bigger fish to fry seeing as he is getting married. Expect the Three Lions to revert to that 4-3-3 formation once again as Hodgson tries to cement his starting eleven in place, and so the likes of Jack Wilshere and Raheem Sterling are once again likely to take to the field.
The big concern that came from the Turkey game was the number of chances the visitors had to score – they genuinely could have netted three or four, so it is anticipated that Hodgson will toughen up in defensive areas against the Aussies. Jordan Henderson is likely to come into the side and act as a midfield barrier alongside Eric Dier and the returning Wayne Rooney, with Ryan Bertrand being given a go at left back ahead of Danny Rose; who was arguably at fault for Turkey’s equaliser. Chris Smalling is set to replace John Stones, and the Three Lions’ potential curveball selection for Euro 2016, Marcus Rashford, will surely be given his full international debut in place of Vardy.
Match Betting
Due to their location, it is rare for Australia to be tested in such a way. They are currently embroiled in a World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign that features such luminaries as Tajikistan, Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan; so yes, the Aussies very rarely come up against the intensity and quality that England will bring to the party on Friday.
Australia’s recent results are good – as you’d expect given their opponents – although a 0-2 loss to Jordan (the country, not the glamour model) in October is an eyebrow-raiser. Their prior defeat to that came at the hands of South Korea, and in May of last year they somehow managed to draw with Germany and Macedonia in the space of a week. We have no real clue as to what these Socceroos are capable of.
We have minimal head-to-head records to go on – these two sides have only met once in 25 years – and on that day it was the Aussies who took a 3-1 win. But that day they were inspired by the occasional world-class talent of Harry Kewell; while the England side contained the likes of Paul Konchesky, James Beattie and Francis Jeffers.
The Aussies will have no such look this time around, and of their squad only three players ply their trade at the top of the game: Mathew Ryan at Valencia, Mile Jedinak at Crystal Palace and Robbie Kruse at Bayer Leverkusen. The rest are young talent sourced from domestic football and journeyman plying their wares across Europe’s lesser leagues, so an England win – at a best price of 1/4 with Betfred – looks a certainty.
Perhaps of more interest is the England/England Half Time/Full Time forecast, given that Hodgson only made two substitutions in the Turkey match. That’s available at 5/6 with Coral, and looks great value.
There is little of value in the Anytime Goalscorer market, although Andros Townsend at 3/1 (bet365) will attract attention given his fine scoring record for England, and we’ve no interest in the First Goalscorer bracket given that we aren’t 100% sure who will start as yet. That Half Time/Full Time forecast is your best bet by a country mile for this match.
