England Look To Extend Unbeaten Run Against Lithuania

England will host Lithuania on Friday looking to cement their position at the top of the European Championship Group E qualification table. Roy Hodgson`s men are currently leading the group by a mammoth six points and could pull nine clear with a victory on Friday. Lithuania, on the other hand, sit in fourth position though are one of three clubs currently with six points. This tally has also been earned by Slovenia and Switzerland. A bringing down of England could see the visitors move clear into second place, should other results go their way, whilst a loss could see them move below Estonia who will be away at Switzerland.

These standings are somewhat representative of the latest FIFA rankings that put England in 17th position in the world, moving down two places. Third placed Switzerland, who are ranked 12th in the world, are the obvious anomaly. Otherwise, Igoris Pankratjevas` Lithuania have improved by two places to take 94th in the world.

As a result of their superior standing in the world rankings and home advantage, it is the Wembley outfit who are the favourites to take all three points from Friday`s clash. Betvictor and betway currently offer the best price on the Three Lions seeing their rivals leave Blighty empty-handed, that price being 1/8. Supporters of the underdog can get the away side at 28/1 to scoop all three points, those odds being on offer at Skybet. Meanwhile, a draw is available at 9/1 (bet365).

Hodgson`s men have ruled supreme in all of their four European Championship qualifiers so far, scoring 11 times and conceding just once. That one goal against came in a 3-1 win over second placed Slovenia. Consequentially, England can be backed at 1/2 at both bet365 and Skybet to win without conceding for the fourth time in their campaign.

The Three Lions have only once failed to hit more than one goal past a team in their campaign, this coming as they beat Estonia away from home by only one goal to nil. Again it is odds-on on England scoring over 1.5 goals against the lowly side, that being available at the best price of 2/7.

Arsenal`s Danny Welbeck is England`s top scorer since their qualification campaign began back in the September of 2014. The striker has contributed five of their 11 goals though may be replaced by up-coming talent Harry Kane. Welbeck has twice scored braces in these four games and is available at 6/1 at unibet to score at least two goals. His Tottenham successor can be picked up at 10/3 (Coral, ladbrokes) to hit the first goal of the match should he start his first ever European qualifier.

The home side have been awarded two penalties in their first four qualification games, one in their 5-0 thrashing of San Marino and the other in their 3-1 victory over Slovenia. Both of the matches were played in England. betfair`s 11/4 says that Hodgson`s men will be awarded a penalty at any time. Fourteen-to-one with the same bookmaker says that they will miss a spot-kick. Both of the penalties that they have had awarded have been converted by Wayne Rooney who is 10/13 (888sport, unibet) to hit the back of the net at any time.

Lithuania have won two and lost two of their first four Euro 2016 qualification matches. These two defeats came in their last two matches, losing 2-0 to Slovenia back October and 4-0 to Switzerland in November. This means that Pankratjevas` men have not scored in 180 straight minutes (270 if you include their goalless friendly draw with Ukraine). As a result the Eastern European outfit are available at 23/10 at boylesports to score over 0.5 goals.

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25/03/2015     © Frixo 2024