FOOTBALL BETTING: Live On ITV1: Weds 20:00
England take on Egypt at Wembley in the televised ITV game whilst Wales host Sweden and Scotland the Czech Republic on Sky Sports.
England have only a couple more opportunities to get together before the squad assembles for the World Cup and so coach Fabio Capello will be keen to get into the winning habit in his final few friendly outings, starting with the visit of Egypt.
Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand are out but England should nevertheless field a pretty strong side as Capello looks to finalise his plans for South Africa and subsequently, the hosts are worthy favourites at 2/5 with Betdaq, despite Egypt’s recent African Cup of Nations success.
Given his current form, including his match winning header in Sunday’s Carling Cup final, Wayne Rooney’s fitness declaration will be a huge boost for England and it’s far from surprising to see the Manchester United striker chalked up as the 7/2 market leader by 888Sport to open the scoring.
Nevertheless, friendly matches are often disjointed affairs and so the home side may have to settle for a slender victory. Bookies seemingly agree, meaning the price for a 1-0 win is just 11/2 at Victor Chandler but a better bet on what could be a quiet night for the England rearguard is Partybets’ 11/10 for them to prevail without conceding.
At Hampden Park, Craig Levein takes charge of his first match as Scotland boss as his side warm up for their Euro 2012 clashes against the Czech Republic by hosting them in a friendly.
The Scots have nothing to fear from their opponents, who are ‘in decline’ according to former international Vladimir Smicer, but It remains a tough game to call with neither Scotland, at 13/8 (Totesport) or the visitors (19/10, Betfred) jumping from the page and indeed as the incoming Scotland boss is vowing to make them hard to beat, Stan James’ 11/5 for the draw is arguably the best bet while the more ambitious might back it at 8/1 with 888Sport to finish goalless.
For Wales meanwhile, a home defeat to Sweden seems likely at odds of 6/5 (Ladbrokes) and Northern Ireland may also be edged out in Albania, where bet365 chalk 6/4 against the hosts.
Compare odds on all tonight’s international friendlies
