Arsenal starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looks set to start today for England against France, having played just 84 minutes of international football. He only made his debut for England in their recent friendly against Norway.
He is expected to be played on the left wing, rather than the far more experienced Stewart Downing. The Liverpool winger had an indifferent season at Anfield and the much-mentioned stat that he failed to score or provide an assist in 36 league appearances seems to have resulted in Roy Hodgson looking elsewhere. Oxlade-Chamberlain made less than half the appearances Downing did and many were from the bench, but he still scored four goals and always looked a threat with his electric pace. He also caught the eye when featuring in the centre of midfield against AC Milan in Arsenal's 3-0 win in the Champions League, though the England boss looks to have decided that he doesn't quite have the experience to play there in an international tournament at this stage of his career.
The news has seen Oxlade-Chamberlain's odds come into 19.537/2 to open the scoring against France from a high of 25.024/1 and he's 8.27/1 to score at anytime, which looks a good price if he does indeed start. He's also 21.020/1 to be England's top scorer at the tournament.
There also seem to be starting places for James Milner, Danny Wellbeck and Joleon Lescott in England's line-up tonight, if the rumours are to be believed.