England delivered a little better than expected against France but the reality is that they need to improve massively if they want to be a serious contender to win this title.
I don’t think there will be many punters that will back the Three Lions to beat Germany in a knock-out match considering the way Jogi Low’s men are playing. Even the quarter finals look very tricky as Russia have been impressive upfront and Italy or Croatia would be pretty tough to beat too.
Germany remains the team to beat and England’s price of 14/1 looks about right. Roy Hodgson’s men don’t look capable at the moment to beat one of the big guys and to do so they would need to change the system they play. They are currently conceding too much possession to opposition and Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker are probably too much close to the defensive line. It would be interesting to see what changes Roy Hodgson will make to the team against Sweden. My feeling is that he won’t change anything and we will be served with the same boring game that we have seen since the new manager has been in charge.
England v Sweden tips, 15th June 2012
This is not a criticism for now but it will become a criticism if with more time the manager won’t be able to modify this situation. Against Sweden I would probably play Ashley Young on the right wing, bring James Milner in the middle and move Steven Gerrard much closer to Danny Welbeck. Let’s see what Roy decides to do but I hope that the end result would be a more attacking England capable of taking advantage of the weaknesses of Sweden’s defence.
Every time Sweden play we say that their destiny depend on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In reality it depends on how many goals their defence will concede. Of course against England they will sit deep trying to give the ball to him as much as possible If he’s on a good night than it will make England defenders night very tough but I don’t think he will be able to save his team. Against Ukraine for example he did score but it wasn’t enough and they ended up with nothing.
I am well aware of Sweden’s strong record against England but the Three Lions are very solid especially at the back and after the positive result against France they will play with very good confidence so I don’t see any huge risk for England. I think we will have a pretty close encounter but I just can’t see the Three Lions losing. By backing England in the draw/no bet market you will be able to get 1.60 if they win and get your money back if the match will end with a draw.
Euro 2012 Betting Tips: England to win at Draw/no bet at 1.60