Dele Alli will miss England’s World Cup qualifier against Slovenia at Wembley on Thursday night for giving somebody the finger in his team’s last outing. Oddly, it could be a prescient, nay clairvoyant, score prediction of how many goals his lot will score in his absence.
This could be dire stuff, folks. Alli, who is considered to be England’s chief creative force, made the gesture in the win against Slovakia. But it was not, he said, aimed at the referee. Somehow Fifa believed him and he received just the one-match sanction. It is arguable it should have been longer.
No matter. England are without their spark plug. Even if with him in the team they resemble a battered old Renault, with very little va-va-voom, it is hard to recognize them as anything other than rust bucket Austin Allegro with him watching on TV. It could be a very spluttering performance.
If England win they will qualify for the World Cup. The bookmakers expect them to do so. They are 1.3 with Bet365. The draw is 5.1 (Unibet) and Slovenia are 12 with the same firm for a shock win.
We could try to make a case for Slovenia frustrating the home team, meaning they will have to wait to book their spot in Russia. But, frankly, there are easier, less risky, ways to line our pockets for this contest.
If we stick to what we know, then there should be plenty of profit available. And we know that England struggle to score goals. And we know that Slovenia when the mood takes them (which is pretty much every time they take to the field), can be difficult to break down, particularly when the team trying to break them down are England.
So the -101 that Marathon offer about there being under 2.5 goals looks a bit of a steal. Slovenia will surely set up to stifle just as they did when they kept England scoreless in a drab 0-0 stalemate in October.
England are not gung-ho going forward. They have scored more than two goals just once in their last seven, despite playing such lowly teams as Scotland, Lithuania and Slovakia.
Their problem here is two-fold. One, they lack the technical quality to consistently open up defences. Two, because they lack this they are also shorn of confidence and terrified of making a rick. It’s a bit of toxic combination. Only Malta succumbed to a beating – 4-0 at the start of September – but even then three goals came in the last five minutes.
Under 2.5 would have copped in nine of Slovenia’s last ten matches so it is clear that the price should be a little shorter. Lump on.
If you want something more exciting, the 6.5 with BetStars that England win 1-0 looks a bit of a giveaway, too. Have a saver on 2-0 at 6 with the same.
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