England U21 v Iceland U21: Young Lions to remain perfect

Internationals / Michael Lintorn / 10 November 2011 /

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Jack Butland has conceded only once in his first three England U21 outings

"Three victories in three have been achieved at the start of the campaign and given that one of those was a 3-0 win in Reykjavik, it is no shock that the Young Lions are [1.19] favourites."

Michael Lintorn is backing Stuart Pearce's youngsters to maintain their 100% success rate in Group 8 with three points against out-of-sorts Iceland...

England U21 v Iceland U21, Thursday 19:30 BST, ESPN, Match odds: England U21 [1.19], Iceland U21 [23.0], The Draw [8.4]

This England Under-21 crop doesn't look as strong as the batch who disappointed in last summer's European Championship, most of the quality coming from midfield in the guise of Jordan Henderson, Josh McEachran and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

But while it might not be as impressive on paper as the previous side, in part due to an injury to Henri Lansbury and senior call-up for Jack Rodwell, the results thus far in qualifying for the 2013 tournament have been faultless.

Three victories in three have been achieved at the start of the campaign and given that one of those was a 3-0 win in Reykjavik, it is no shock that the Young Lions are [1.19] favourites to inflict another beating on them in front of a full house in Colchester.

Iceland triumphed over Stuart Pearce's side at Deepdale in March, and he didn't think his kids were as good as the scoreline suggested last month. However, the visitors haven't fared well of late, losing two of their first three Group 8 games despite hosting the lot.

First goal odds

One of the reasons that England have enjoyed such a comfortable start is their tendency to force their opponents into chasing by assuming an early lead.

In all three of their matches, they have gone ahead within 12 minutes, with the opener coming in the first five in two of those. It is [3.8] that the deadlock is broken in the first ten minutes again.

England win to nil

The Young Lions have a fairly unfamiliar face between the sticks these days in Jack Butland, a Birmingham goalkeeper currently on loan at League Two surprise package Cheltenham, though his introductory period has been a success.

The 18-year-old has conceded just once in his first three appearances and given that Iceland have been shut out in their last two qualifiers, odds of [1.89] on him claiming his third clean sheet in a home win are tempting.

Best Bet: England to win to nil @ [1.89]
Other Recommended Bet: First goal scored in 0-10 minutes @ [3.8]

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