England hungry for points in first-ever meeting with Algeria

The biggest question on everybody’s mind concerning England’s Group C game against Algeria at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, on June 18 is who will manager Fabio Capello start in net after keeper Robert Green’s blunder in their 1-1 draw against the USA? In addition who will replace the injury-prone Ledley King in the back four and will he stick with an ineffective goal scorer in Emile Heskey as Wayne Rooney’s striking partner or will he opt for Peter Crouch or Jermain Defoe? The other choices for keeper are veteran David James and youngster Joe Hart.

However, England’s 1-1 game with the Americans doesn’t really look that bad now considering the results that Portugal, Italy, and Spain suffered in their first games and the fact France is almost out of the tournament already after just two games. And Green certainly isn’t the only goalie that’s made a major gaffe in the tournament so far. In fact, Algeria’s Fawzi Chaouchi’s suffered the same fate as his English counterpart as his error cost his team in their 1-0 loss to Slovenia in their first match. The fact that Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off didn’t help matters either.

But England captain Steven Gerrard stated that goaltending mistakes are just a part of the game and they happen from time to time. He added that the squad still supports Green and whichever goalie Capello decides to go with. Algeria manager Rabah Saadane said he’s going to keep Chaouchi between the posts, but he might not be able to play now as he missed training on June 16 due to a sprained knee.

England got some good news on the injury front though, as Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry should be ready to play after sitting out with damaged ankle ligaments since early May. It’ll be interesting to see if Capello decides to start him, and if he does, who will sit out.

If Barry plays, it’s assumed that Gerrard will be expected to attack more on the left side and feed Rooney, who hasn’t scored for six games now. Capello may also sacrifice a striker and just use Rooney up front on his own, but this usually leads to frustration in Rooney’s game and that’s when he often loses his discipline.

Rooney has score 25 times in 61 games for England and stated that he’d obviously like to find the net again soon, but will keep working as hard as he can to help set up his teammates as well. He added that he doesn’t feel any extra pressure though, as he is stuck in the dry spell.

Odds and Match Predictions

England enters the game ranked eighth in the World by FIFA while Algeria is ranked 30th and are playing in their third World Cup. Games aren’t won by rankings though, but England should rebound here as they need the points badly. Look for them to pop a few goals as well on the way to a 3-1 win. This gives you 9.75 at Bwin where they offer 310 different odds on England v Algeria.

England is expected to win this game and Expekt.com has the odds of them doing that as 6/25. Meanwhile an Algeria victory is listed at 14/1 while the chances of a draw are posted at odds of 47/10. William Hill and Sportsbook (US Friendly) does also offer great odds selections on this game.

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