Without doubt one of the more interesting games for Friday, where England will try to start the campaign for Euro 2012 with a win, against my homeland Bulgaria.
According to the press, this is the game with most placed bets so far, so be sure to join the rest of the community and visit Betfair.com pick from the highest odds around the internet, and get your 25£ bonus.
After the embarrassing loss with 1:4 in the World Cup 2010 against Germany, partially because of a referee’s mistake, England played a friendly against Hungary and won, after loosing with 0:1 until the 69th minute.
Injured played for England are: John Terry, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Peter Crouch, still questionable is Bobby Zamora(thigh) and Defoe.
After forgetting few months ago, that Bulgaria is even in their group, Capello has spoken nicely about the team, before the game:
“Bulgaria are a dangerous team,” explained Capello. “I watched three games that they played: two before the World Cup and the last against Russia. They lost 1-0 but they played very well. It will be a tough game that we will play here at Wembley.”
England has played 8 games against Bulgaria, won 4 drew 4 and lost 0. In England however the team has won 3 and drew 4, however the games have been quite a while ago. The only thing that’s probably the same in both teams since their last game is their names.
For those interested in the past games of England against Bulgaria here they are:
09 Jun 99 England v Bulgaria drew 1-1
10 Oct 98 England v Bulgaria drew 0-0
27 Mar 96 England v Bulgaria won 1-0
22 Nov 79 England v Bulgaria won 2-0
06 Jun 79 England v Bulgaria won 3-0
01 Jun 74 England v Bulgaria won 1-0
11 Dec 68 England v Bulgaria drew 1-1
07 Jun 62 England v Bulgaria drew 0-0
As you see the last two games have ended draw back in 98-99, but that’s been so long ago, that the stats are almost obsolete.
What’s expected to happen in this game?
Of course the favorite of this game is England, not only because they are playing on Wembly, but because, they have the more class. However, with key players injured like Terry, Ferdinand, and Lampard, Crouch, Zamora, Defoe, the English team might not be in optimal formation. Of course there are quality substitutes by the synchrony might be off between them.
Bulgarian coach Stanimir Stoilov, has called only two players from the local league, after accusations that local league players don’t have the psychical preparation as the players from Premier League for example. This is this time, most Bulgarian players come from England, Russia, Germany, Holland, Italy. Striker Bojinov started the season in Parma, with a goal last week.
Looking over the past 8 games, only 1 has ended over 2.5 Goals, and the other 7, Under 2.5 goals. Again, those games were long time ago, so stats will not play that big of a role here.
The Betting Verdict?
Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.80 (Betfair.com): Although statistics says differently, it has been almost 11 years since both teams have met. Considering that England’s defense is weakened, and Bulgarian’s defense has always been weak, I expect both teams to be able to score at least a goal and hopefully more.
Six out of the eight games have ended with England keeping a clean sheet the odds are great at 1.91 but I’d go for the Over 2.5 Goals.
