Football Betting: England U21 v France U21

Internationals / Mike Norman / 31 March 2009 / Leave a Comment

They may not be under the age of 21 but Mike Norman believes that Stuart Pearce's not-so-young Lions will have too much for an inexperienced French side. Best Bet: Back England U21/England U21 @ [3.4]

Question. What nation, currently priced at [4.0] to win this summer's Under-21 Euro Championship, can boast a regular line-up of 11 players with not one of them being under the age of 21?

Correct, the answer is indeed England. In fact, a similar team could be named tonight when England U21 take on their French counterparts in an international friendly at Nottingham Forest's City Ground. The Match Odds market has England U21 available to back at [1.97], France U21 at [4.5], and The Draw available at [3.6].

I won't pretend that I've got a huge knowledge of the French squad because, other than the English based players and a few others, I've barely heard of most of them. But what is very significant is the difference in age and number of caps the French lads have compared to their English counterparts.

Just three of France's 25-man squad are aged 21 or above, and not one member of the squad has more than six caps at this level.

This is in stark contrast to Stuart Pearce's 'not-so-young' Lions. On the right side of midfield will be James Milner, a 23-year-old winger with a staggering 40 caps at under-21 level, whilst in the centre of midfield will be Tottenham's Tom Huddlestone - aged 22 and with 31 caps to his name. Add to this the likes of goalkeeper Joe Hart (aged 21 and 15 caps), defenders Nedum Onuoha (22, 16 caps) and David Wheater (22, 9 caps), and striker Matt Derbyshire (22, 12 caps) and you can clearly see that England have a massive edge in terms of experience, and probably quality, throughout the team.

Pearce will be desperate for a win in front of the fans that adored him for so long and is sure to field as strong a side as possible in preparation for this summer's big tournament. France on the other hand failed to qualify for Euro 09 and have since started a re-building process in time for the 2011 Under-21 Euro Championship.

I fancy England U21 to win this game and will not only back them at [1.97] to win the match outright, but will back England U21/England U21 at a very appealing [3.4] in the Half Time/Full Time market.

Over 2.5 Goals ([2.24]) looks a decent wager also. England's last five fixtures have resulted in a total of 21 goals being scored, and with goalscoring threats coming from all over the pitch (not least from Adam Johnson, Wheater, Milner and Derbyshire) they are very capable of scoring a few goals at least tonight. At the other end, Liverpool's David N'Gog will be the main threat for the French.

Correct Scores and First Goalscorers are very hard to predict at this level, hence the rewarding odds on offer, so in the hope of winning some money to lose on this weekend's Grand National, I'm going for 2-1 ([9.8]) and3-1 ([21.0]) to England, with a huge favourite of mine, Adam Johnson, scoring the first goal - available to back at [11.5].