ENGLAND v SWITZERLAND
Football : UEFA : EURO 2012 Qualifier : Group G
Saturday, June 4th, 2011 - Kickoff 7:45PM GMT

---

ENGLAND
(Group G : 1st 3-1-0 9:1)

England entertain Switzerland at Wembley looking to stretch their lead in Group G to 9 points. With 3 games to go in qualifying for next years championships in Poland and Ukraine, Capello's men will virtually guarantee themselves a place in the tournament they missed in 2008.

England will be missing a host of important players for this one and on paper the attack is certainly not as potent as it can be. Jermaine Defoe is missing for this one, as is Andy Carroll and Wayne Rooney.

This puts the responsibility in the hands of Darren Bent, but with the Villa striker in fine form there should not be much to worry about as he will surely add to his tally against a Swiss defence that will surely leave itself open as they try and win the game themselves. Bent has scored in his last 3 matches for England, and Capello will have the likes of Crouch and Zamora too, so goals are pretty much a guarantee.

Gerrard and Carrick are the big absentees from the midfield, but with the emergence of Jack Wilshere this area of the pitch will be well marshalled along with Scott Parker, who is always an asset. Joe Hart has proven to be a very reliable goalkeeper since breaking into the first team, so the chances of the Swiss posing a risk of winning this are next to nothing.

England only have a draw to fear here, in my opinion, such is the quality of their opposition. With the gameplan they are likely to face though, there will be many chances to break and score and I feel they will take them.

SWITZERLAND
(Group G : 3rd 1-1-2 5:5)

Switzerland were meant to be the main rivals to England in this group but they are now in the unenviable position of having to win all their remaining games. That means England will face a team that has to attack because a draw could eliminate the visitors.

Chances aplenty at both ends, methinks.

If the England attack looks weakened, Switzerland's looks crippled. Alex Frei, record goalscorer for his country has decided to call time on his international career and in his absence Hitzfeld has called up a bunch of strikers who have yet to prove themselves.

The Swiss might have been able to frustrate England with their defensive set-up as they did against Spain in last year's World Cup, but their group position means they have to not just draw but win.

The Swiss are not good enough to come to Wembley and attack without leaving themselves vulnerable and England will have enough talent on the pitch to get the goals even without their star player.

BETTING VERDICT

I have to go with a home win in this one. Darren Bent might very well open the scoring, or net more than once, and those bets are well worth taking.

I can see England taking the lead and then hitting a desperate Swiss side for more, so a bet on England to win by at least 2 looks best in terms of price.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Eng-er-laaaand!

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take England to win @ 1.40 (Pinnacle)

Take Darren Bent to score @ 2.05 (Bet365)
Take Darren Bent to score 2 or more @ 6.00 (Bet365)

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take England -1.5AH @ 2.15 (Pinnacle) - MAIN BET