Much like the rubbish these two teams served up at the World Cup, this is likely to be a drab affair and under 2.5 goals looks like a really good bet at 8/11 - Blue Square Traders share their Switzerland v England tips exclusively with Bettingpro
Having brushed aside a very limited Bulgarian team at Wembley as they started their European Championship qualifying campaign with an easy win, England move on to Basle on Tuesday night where they face a tricky encounter against Switzerland.
The Swiss weren’t in action on Friday as qualifying got underway, but everybody knows what to expect from one of the most dour teams in international football, and you can guarantee that Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side will not be pushing the boat out here. Their obvious limitations are reflected in the prices where the home win is 16/5, with the draw a 23/10 shot and depleted England are 5/6 favourites at Bluesq.
Switzerland drew their most recent friendly 0-0 with Australia, having won 1, drawn 1 and lost 1 at the World Cup, scoring just once in the process, and there are rarely goals around when they play. That 1 goal did of course come in a shock win over eventual winners Spain, and they have every right to fancy their chances against an England side who are vastly inferior to the Spanish.
If the Swiss are to breach England’s defence, Alexander Frei is their most likely scorer and is priced up by Blue Square at 8/1 for the first goal or 5/2 for a goal at any time. That looks like a bit of value for a man with 40 international goals to his name from 77 caps, particularly as England will be without Terry, Ferdinand and Dawson at centre back.
Leverkusen’s Tranquillo Barnetta is another man with an eye for goal, and the midfield man certainly looks a reasonable punt for the first goal at 16/1. It is still worth baring in mind Hitzfeld’s ultra-defensive style, however, and it would be hard to argue with backing Switzerland to score no goals at 6/5 in Blue Square’s Team Goals market.
Michael Dawson’s absence will open the door for Lescott, Upson or Gary Cahill at the back for England in the only change to the side that crushed Bulgaria, after Fabio Capello confirmed that Wayne Rooney will start despite currently being at the centre of a seedy tabloid storm.
Despite not scoring himself, Rooney was pivotal in Jermain Defoe grabbing his first international hat-trick on Friday, and how he responds to the latest embarrassing story to hit the England team will be crucial to his side’s chances of winning. Rooney is 4/1 favourite to open the scoring in this one, while if you fancy a bad reaction from the Man Utd man, the 14/1 about him picking up the first card definitely appeals.
It’s a slight surprise to see Defoe a touch bigger than Rooney at 5/1 to open the scoring, particularly after his performance last time out, and he will of course be the man playing right on the shoulders of the Swiss defence. The 11/8 about him to score at any time also looks very backable indeed.
In the absence of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard has been fantastic in the middle of the park in the last couple of games for England, and he also carries plenty of appeal given Blue Square’s unlimited places each-way on first goalscorer bets – Gerrard is 7/1 to hit the net first in this one.
Much like the rubbish these two teams served up at the World Cup this is likely to be a drab affair with goalmouth action at a premium, and under 2.5 goals looks like a really good bet at 8/11. 1-0 to England is favourite in the correct score market at 11/2, and that looks like a good way to go here, while 0-0 also looks good at 15/2.