ENGLAND v GHANA
Football : Pointless Annoying Friendly
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 - Kickoff 8:00PM GMT

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I really hate friendlies.

ENGLAND

Straight off the bat, let's get one thing straight. This game means SFA to England. Sure they would like to win it, but their preparations make it clear they are treating it as the meaningless waste of time and energy it is. Let me explain.

Having annoyed everyone in naming Terry as captain, Capello has now allowed the Chelsea skipper to return to his club and hence miss this game. He's also sent back Lampard and Ashley Cole. That's 2 very important defenders and the opening goalscorer and main penalty kick taker from the last match. Not done there. He's let Wayne Rooney go back to United. Dawson and Lennon are out too, back at Spurs. Does this sound like a man who's out to win this game? No. It's a manager who is going to try out different reserve players. Weaker players.

Darren Bent, who scored the second goal in that 2-0 victory over Wales, is in the squad, as is his club teammate Ashley Young. He will likely be partnered up front by Liverpools Andy Carroll. Also playing will be Scott Parker and Jack Wilshere, who put in cracking performances too. Gareth Barry will take over the captaincy for this one as he takes his place in the midfield.

The defence will look very very different from the one that kept Wales out. Leighton Baines starts at left back instead of Cole. Phil Jagielka will play along side Gary Cahill in the centre of defence.

GHANA

African heroes Ghana will have a restless night before this one. The whole country is absolutely crazy about football, with the English Premier League followed in rabid fashion. The semi-finalists from the World Cup held in Africa last year are about to step into Wembley to play England. How motivated do you think they will feel to win this?

I'm not going to go into individuals on this one but Ghana will be playing their first team in this match, seeing as it is going to be a big historic game for them. There are players on this Ghana team, such as Essien and Gyan, who play in the Premier League. Ghana played an African Nations Cup qualifier against Congo and came away with a 3-0 win to remain top of their group.

There is a difference between Wales and Ghana. Ghana are a much better side and they are likely to play with pace and will be far more dangerous when they attack, which they will do often. Their World Cup run was no fluke. It was the result of a lot of hard work and they can count themselves very unlucky to have not played the finals. Expect the same work rate here against an England reserve team.

BETTING VERDICT

England are not going to have the motivation here. Ghana will. England have done what they had to do, which is win their qualifier with a clean sheet and the important key players have been allowed to go home. This is a chance for the reserves to make a mark so while there is motivation, it is still the reserves and they are reserves for a reason.

Ghana will go for the win, which means England will either seize their chances to counter attack and score, or will be frustrated by the motivated and charged up visitors. Quite frankly that could mean a win, draw or even a loss. I'm not willing to bet money on the result when the players aren't going to be taking it that seriously.

There will be open play. There will be a lot of attacking and counter attacking and there are a lot of changes in the England first team. I reckon a look at the goals market is well worth it. Consider betting on the over, or simply taking both teams to score. I just hope Wilshere comes back in one piece.

The Pick :

Meh!

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Both teams to score @ 1.90 (Bet365)