England’s problem is this game comes after a long and hard season for the players. Capello will have to find a way to motivate them. Also, there won’t be Rooney (Defoe, Carroll and Gerrard). On the other hand, England is topping the table just by goal difference. Win today should be out of question.
Swiss are 6 points behind, they desperately need a win to join a battle for top two places but I’m sure they’ll be absolutely satisfied with a point today. However, they have scoring problems on their trips and alongside with hard defending that Ottmar Hitzfeld is forcing, their last 6 games produced zero or one goal. Attacking duo, Frei (ex skipper) - Streller, was under the media fire after last game (0-0 Bulgaria) and both retired! I think Swiss target will be 0-0 scoreline.
My first idea was England -1, I’m pretty sure they’ll win. But with 2 goals margin? This should be a better call. Hosts will dominate in possession and most of the time ball will be on Swiss half, around penalty area. I’m going on corners market and 1st half since the English pressure on goal should be bigger.
Bet: number of corners 1st half, England -2 (ah)
Odd: 2.04 188bet
Stake: 7/10
pi
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Nothing much to say about Chelsea. They have a title in the hands and need a win which would be a first Premier-FA Cup double in the club’s history. They play at home where have 16 wins of 18 games, just one draw (Everton 3-3) and one defeat (Man City 2-4). Chelsea surprisingly lost the first game vs.Wigan on the road 1-3, but in nine games before that have eight wins and a draw. Carlo Ancelotti will name the same squad that won at Liverpool.
Wigan are probably the most unpredictable side in Premier, usually give their best against strongest sides but slip against bottom clubs. They would surely like to make themselves famous by burying Chelsea at Stamford. But, there’re few problems. Three players are the spine of the team. Chris Kirkland has a finger injury which means Vladimir Stojkovic deputize him again. Stojkovic is a joke and I’m especially annoyed he’s the first option for Serbian national team. Second of those three is Titus Bramble, key defender, who is out with a foot problem. And third is winger Charles N'Zogbia who could return (but won’t be 100% fit) after recovering from an ankle injury.
Nottingham Forest - Sheffield United
Milan – Manchester United
Croatia hold a second spot in group 6, with three points more than Ukraine (visiting Belarus in clash earlier today), but also a game more. They’re in position where tonight’s win would guarantee play-off spot (and fight for the first place), but defeat would bring a nightmare. In recent campaign, they have five wins, two draws, while the only defeat suffered from England at their home, Maksimir 1-4. At Saturday, they played not so good game against Belarus (1-0 at home) where visitors probably deserved a point, but Croats were with their minds already at Wembley. It seems Croatian side is consciously raising the pressure for this encounter, probably counting on some errors on the pitch that can cause. Even national coach Slaven Bilic involved in the press war, pointing that under the leadership of the Italian coach the team lost to English nature! However, visitors will miss some key players. Midfield playmaker Luka Modric is injured, while right-back Corluka got a red card at Saturday’s game. Regular goalie Pletikosa is also out. Bilic doesn’t talk too much about tactic, but he’ll surely try to use English weakness in back line where his fast forwards like Olic, Eduardo, Srna or Pranjic can make some escapes and mess. However, visitors know how to play games like this and they’ll fight till the limits of fanaticism and if the things go wrong surely won’t give up.
