The type of opponent England need to get that out of their system is Algeria, a team that got thrashed 4-0 and had three players sent off in the semi-finals of the Africa Cup Of Nations.
If people think Wayne Rooney is a hothead he’s like a monk compared to an angry Algerian, so expect the Three Lions to come away with a morale-boosting win and reignite the nation’s hopes.
1/4 England Win
5/1 Draw
11/1 Algeria
FourFourTwo's betting partner Paddy Power believes there can be only one winner.
In the second round of group matches the teams will be much calmer and will be used to the balls so we can (hopefully) expect more goals.
For some value look at backing England (-1) at 5/6 and also for there to be more than 2.5 goals in this game at Evens.
Paddy Power are that confident there will be goals in the match that if it ends 0-0 they’ll refund all losing 1st/last scorer, correct score and scorecast bets on the match.
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After his goal against the USA, captain Steven Gerrard will be well backed again especially at 7/1 to be first or last scorer.
With Gareth Barry back anchoring the midfield Gerrard and Frank Lampard will have more license to go forward and England will have more possession in the middle of the field. If Gerrard is supporting the striker then 7/1 is a great price.
Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain is currently the top scorer in the competition, so the stage is still set for Wayne Rooney to explode onto the World Cup. He’s the 3/1 favourite to score the opening goal and 10/1 to score a hat-trick on Friday night.
Paddy Power are also offering the best price on Emile Heskey scoring the first goal at 8/1. Even Heskey should be confident of scoring against Algeria!
First Scorers
3/1 Rooney
9/2 Crouch
5/1 Defoe
6/1 Lampard
7/1 Gerrard
8/1 Heskey
9/1 Joe Cole
11/1 Lennon
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England’s price of 8/1 to win the World Cup is unlikely to be the same after the Algeria game, so if there was a time to back them it’s now.
If England do record a rousing victory of 4-0 (12/1) then you can expect those odds to come down to around 6/1 or 11/2. A 4-0 win should be seen as a minimum requirement against this calibre of opposition. Even a 5-0 tonking might be worth considering at 25/1.
Correct Score
4/1 England 1-0
4/1 England 2-0
8/1 England 2-1
13/2 England 3-0
12/1 England 4-0
25/1 England 5-0
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