So here we are: the last chance for England’s players to impress Roy Hodgson prior to the start of their Euro 2016 campaign against Russia a week on Saturday. And arguably the Three Lions have saved the best ‘til last as they welcome Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal to Wembley on Thursday evening.
Coming into this fixture with a brace of 2-1 wins over Australia and Turkey to their credit, Hodgson must be close to knowing what his strongest eleven is and how they will set-up, so don’t expect this friendly match to be a pantomime: England will be looking to win convincingly on a ground on which they tend to dominate their opposition.
For Portugal, this encounter hands them an opportunity to build on their impressive 3-0 win over Norway on Sunday, and you get the feeling that going into Euro 2016 as quietly fancied dark horses suits them – if not Ronaldo’s ego.
They are a strange old bunch, with defeats to Bulgaria and Russia in recent times slightly diminishing that fantastic 2-1 victory over Belgium in March. Portugal are about as inconsistent as it gets; bad news for punters here.
Match Betting
Often we give the home team the benefit of the doubt in closely-fought matches, but Portugal’s away form deserves respect. In the past calendar year they have won five of six on the road, and their happy knack of winning 1-0 – 50% of their last twelve wins have come by this scoreline – should stand them in good stead.
England continue to excite and irritate in equal measure. They have only failed to score in one of their last eleven outings, so naturally we fancy them to net here, and yet they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last four matches; conceding six in the process.
Portugal aren’t a one man team, let’s make that clear, but they surely won’t want to risk Ronaldo for any more than an hour here with Euro 2016 so close on the horizon. With him off the pitch, the Portuguese will struggle to retain possession high up the pitch, handing England ample opportunity to attack.
Cheered on by a raucous Wembley crowd, we’ll be backing England to win & both teams to score at 3/1 with bet365.
Other Betting Tips
Since the turn of the Millennium matches between these two teams have finished as follows: 3-2, 1-1, 1-1, 2-2, 0-0. With that statistical input, we can see that 80% of encounters have witnessed both teams scoring, and 40% over 2.5 goals.
So naturally it is the BTTS market that tickles our fancy here – as alluded to above – particularly with England’s recent results reading 2-0, 3-2, 1-2, 2-1 and 2-1; it certainly won’t be dull anyway. That Both Teams to Score bracket looks a tempting proposition at 23/20 with William Hill.
Given that we suspect Hodgson will play his preferred starting eleven here, it would seem unlikely that Jamie Vardy will start at all or certainly not as a centre forward anyway. That will leave Harry Kane shouldering the goalscoring burden; which we’re sure he’ll take in his stride. Having bludgeoned 30 goals in all competitions this term, he is irresistible in either the First Goalscorer (5/1, BetVictor) or Anytime Goalscorer (11/8, Betfair) markets as you prefer.
Football Tips
England to win & both teams to score at 3/1 with Bet365
Both Teams to Score at 23/20 with William Hill
Harry Kane First Goalscorer at 5/1 with BetVictor
Harry Kane Anytime Goalscorer at 11/8 with Betfair
