Internationals / Editor / 27 March 2007 / Leave a Comment

Andorra v England, Wednesday 8.00pm

Steve McClaren is under more pressure to send England out ready to make hay against minnows Andorra at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, after their latest disappointing showing in the 0-0 draw with Israel on Saturday.

McClaren started his reign as Sven Goran Eriksson's successor in positive fashion with a big friendly win over Greece, followed by solid performances to beat Wednesday's opponents 5-0 and a tricky Macedonia 1-0 in Skopje.

But since then it has all gone downhill for the former Middlesbrough boss, and with just one goal scored in England's last five games - and that came in a friendly - the heat is well and truly on as media calls for his quick removal gather pace.

It would be hard to imagine McClaren holding on for much longer if the unthinkable should happen against Andorra, who are huge outsiders at 110 to pull off a shock, with England trading at 1.03 and another stalemate available at 40.

Although England created chances in Tel Aviv, Wayne Rooney, Andrew Johnson and Frank Lampard were unable to take any of them, leaving the door open for someone like David Nugent to get his first chance in the side.

McClaren has threatened to drop his under-performing stars although it is unlikely Rooney will be one of them, even though he has failed to net for his country since the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal.

Johnson, a scorer of 12 goals for Everton this season, has yet to open his account for England, although he has only been given six caps, while Lampard's goal drought continues despite his prolific form for Chelsea.

The pair are the more likely to make way should there be any changes, but whatever side McClaren puts out in Barcelona, punters rightly expect England to improve on their recent goalscoring form (one goal in the last five games and none in their last three in Group E), with an Andorra clean sheet available at 36.

England did have a fairly easy time in the first meeting between the sides at Old Trafford in September, when Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe each scored twice - Crouch definitely misses this game as he recovers from a broken nose, while Defoe has to be a possible for the starting line-up after replacing the disappointing Johnson on Saturday.

But Andorra should still be little match for England despite their sorry state of affairs at the moment, although they did hold Armenia to a 0-0 draw last time out in a friendly.

Goals are being confidently predicted with a 3-0 win for England the favourite of the quoted scores at 6.6, while over 3.5 goals is priced at 1.55.

Italy v Scotland, Wednesday 7.50pm

The most important game for any of the home nations in midweek comes in Bari where Scotland could put one foot in the draw for Euro 2008 with a positive result, to follow up the battling victory over Georgia on Saturday.

However, punters appear to believe the task is beyond them as Italy are trading as strong 1.35 favourites to make home soil count, while Scotland are available at 14 to take the points and the draw is on offer at 5.1.

Scotland did not miss a beat following the managerial change from Walter Smith to Alex McLeish, although they were made to battle hard by Georgia and had to rely on a last-minute goal from substitute Craig Beattie to secure three vital points. That victory means they hold on to top spot alongside France, with Italy some five points adrift, with a game in hand, after not playing at the weekend.

Punters clearly feel that the tough stretch of matches to come for the Scots will see them drop out of the two qualifying places in Group B as they are fourth favourites in the 'to qualify' market at 4.3, behind 1.14 favourites France, Italy (1.22) and dark horses Ukraine (2.8), who won 2-0 against the Faroe Islands on Saturday and are three points behind the leaders with a game in hand.

Scotland are expected to adopt a more defensive approach on Wednesday and will try to hit the Azzurri on the counter attack, but denying the hosts will be a big ask.

They have not drawn a blank so far in qualifying with seven goals achieved in their four matches and, not surprisingly, 'No' is a strong favourite at 1.12 in the Scotland Clean Sheet market.

Punters recognise that Italy should have enough armoury to win what could be a tight contest. A goal feast is certainly not expected with 1-0 and 2-0 home wins trading at 7.0 and 6.4 respectively, while under 2.5 goals is a slight favourite at 1.9.

The World Cup winners have been in something of a transitional period since lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy last July, with new coach Roberto Donadoni's task not helped by unavailability and injury, which again effects his squad for this game.

However they did bounce back from the 3-1 World Cup final revenge rematch with France by beating Ukraine and Georgia, and this will be their first international since a 1-1 friendly draw with Turkey last November.

Donadoni has called up the untested Fabio Quagliarella and Max Tonetto for the first time, while Massimo Ambrosini could play only his second game for his country with the likes of Francesco Totti, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Massimo Grosso and Christian Zaccardo all missing.

There will be some hope for the Scots as they try to follow up the 1-1 draw they earned in their last outing against Italy, which came at Hampden Park in World Cup 2006 qualifying - a repeat of that score can be supported at 10.5.

But they have only beaten the Italians once in six games - and that came all the way back in their first encounter in 1965 - they have lost three and drawn the other two games in a six-match history.

Serbia v Portugal, Wednesday 7.30pm

The big match in Group A could go a long way to deciding the fates of these two World Cup competitors (Serbia were then still teamed with Montenegro in a joint team) in what is a very tough group to predict.

There are still four big players in this section, playing for only two places, with Poland top on 13 points ahead of Finland on 11 and both Serbia and Portugal on 10, but the other three teams all have a game in hand on the group leaders.

However it is Portugal who are favourites with Betfair punters to top the group at the end of the gruelling qualifying campaign, priced at 1.76 ahead of Serbia at 4.1, with Poland 5.8 and surprise performers Finland at 13 in a group they were not really expected to compete strongly in.

But that market will undoubtedly shift immensely if either side can win this clash, to be played in the hot atmosphere of Crvena Zvezda Stadion.

Despite picking up just one point on their travels so far in the group from two games, Portugal are favourites at 2.34 to take the points on Wednesday, while the hosts, who boast a 100 per cent home record, can be supported at 3.65 to bounce back from a surprise 2-1 defeat in Kazakhstan, with the draw at 3.25.

The hosts are on a run of four undefeated matches since the split from their neighbours - their last home game, a 1-1 draw with Norway in a friendly, was the only one they have not won.

The defeat on Saturday though cost Serbia the services of leading striker, and their scorer in Almaty, Nikola Zigic who was sent off and will miss Portugal's visit through suspension.

Portugal struggled for 45 minutes in their 4-0 win over Belgium on Saturday, but the second half saw them in imperious form as Cristiano Ronaldo continued his stellar goalscoring run with a header and a lovely strike at the end of a shimmying run.

The Manchester United ace has the ability to unlock any defence on his day, although punters are not expecting too many goals on Wednesday. Serbia have won two of their three home games in Group A by a score of 1-0, available at 10, while Portugal have scored just once in their trips to Finland and Poland.

In the Over/Under 2.5 goals market, under is the 1.68 favourite while over can be supported at 2.38.