England v Wales

We’re faced with the usual problem of how to bet on the England football team to do well against less distinguished opponents, without being faced with appalling odds. The 1/7 on a home win is too short for a side who haven’t won at Wembley in any of the last four. Rooney is back in splendid form but best odds of 3/1 to be first goalscorer are prohibitive when so many could beat him to it. Instead, I think a better option is to bet on the time of England’s first goal - a pattern has been established that we can exploit.

Betfred offer 3/1 on England scoring in the first 10 minutes and this looks decent based on the results in the qualifiers for Euro 2012 up till now. Perhaps the most impressive attribute that Capello has instilled in his side since the World Cup is the ability to come flying out of the blocks. In four out of six qualifiers England have broken the deadlock inside the first quarter of an hour. On Friday Cahill scored after 13 minutes and in the first match against Bulgaria Defoe found the net after just three minutes.

Away to Wales Lampard converted a penalty after seven minutes and Bent added another right on the 15 minute mark. In Switzerland Rooney slammed home a shot with 10 minutes on the clock. Even in the 2-2 Wembley draw with the same opponents England scored quickly after half-time showing how Capello sends his team out fired up. 

As well as capitulating quickly against England in Cardiff, Wales also conceded after eight minutes in the 4-1 hammering away to Switzerland. An encouraging result for the visitors on Friday can’t disguise the frailties that Wales showed in losing their first four matches before that. Gary Speed’s side have conceded nine goals in five matches and face a side who have racked up 14 in six games. An early goal for England must be very likely all things considered; odds of 3/1 on that happening between 0-10 minutes seem very respectable.