Massive lifeline for England but Croatia are out to stop them

Internationals / Editor / 20 November 2007 / 1 Comments

The betting nuts and bolts of Wednesday's match between England and Croatia

The football gods smiled on Steve McClaren on Saturday when Israel beat Russia to hand England one last chance to book their place at Euro 2008.

And the under-fire coach, whose obituary had already been penned by some sections of the press before Omer Golan popped up with a late winner, will accept there can be no more slip-ups in the race to qualify for next summer's showpiece event.

England need just a point to go through and McClaren has vowed to attack, meaning Peter Crouch, who has scored four goals in seven European Championship qualifiers and 13 goals in 23 international games, could start.

The giant Liverpool striker was replaced in Croatia when England crashed 2-0 and he could come in ahead of a five-man midfield, with McClaren facing a crucial dilemma whether to start with David Beckham and allow Steven Gerrard to play in a more advanced role.

England have not lost at home during their qualifying campaign or conceded a goal and are the 1.63 favourites in the Match Odds section.

They have won their last three home fixtures 3-0 and a repeat of that scoreline is available at a generous-looking 12 in the Correct Score market.

Captain John Terry was missing when England were frozen out on Russia's artificial pitch last time out and his return to training could mean a recall, but he is not expected to start.

England have conceded just four goals in qualifying and the 'Yes' option in the Clean Sheet market is available at 1.91.

However, McClaren will be mindful of the fact that Croatia (9.6 in the Match Odds market), who have already qualified, are no mugs on the road and have kept clean sheets in eight of their 11 qualifying games and had not conceded in their last five outings until last Saturday's shock defeat to Macedonia.

A draw (available at 3.45 in the Match Odds market) would mean Croatia would finish top of Group E but coach Slaven Bilic has said his side cannot afford to play for a point.

The Croatians have scored three more goals than England in qualifying and an away win (available at 9.6 in the Match Odds market) would mean the hosts would miss out on next year if Russia also beat Andorra.

Comments (1)

1. Betfair Blogger | 21 November 2007

   It will be interesting to see how McClaren plans to 'attack' with Crouch as a lone striker. Steven Gerrard in a more advanced role, I feel, is a bonus. If fully fit, Beckham should start - hopefully he could produce some trademark crosses for Crouchosaurus.

   Te 3-0 Correct Score looks an interesting bet, but with Croatia's clean sheets I am unsure.