The World Cup qualifier between England
and Scotland at Wembley on Friday may be overshadowed by events off
the field and, in the eyes of Gareth Southgate and Gordon Strachan,
anything that distracts attention from the football may not be an
altogether bad thing. Despite the match being scheduled for Armistice
Day, FIFA has banned players from wearing armbands featuring poppies.
The Royal British Legion has written to the governing body, pointing
out, quite rightly, that the poppy “has no political, religious or
commercial meaning”. So, too, have Prime Minister Theresa May and
Prince William, but FIFA is reportedly “sticking to the letter of
the law”.
England interim manager Gareth
Southgate enters the third game his four-game tenure on the back of a
2-0 home win over Malta, ranked 178 by FIFA, and a 0-0 draw in
Slovenia, ranked 52. In the latter performance, the Three Lions
managed just three shots on target had goalkeeper Joe Hart to thank
for a succession of outstanding saves that prevented further
embarrassment in a match short on positives. Southgate will also be
without Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli, who suffered a knee injury in
training, so it’s hard to enthuse about England.
Scotland have been equally hapless in
recent starts and, not for the first time, looked defensively
vulnerable during the 3-0 defeat by Slovakia in Trnava last month.
Gordon Strachan’s side currently lie fourth in World Cup Qualifying
Group F, four points behind leaders England and a point behind
Lithuania and Slovenia. On the plus side, Strachan can welcome back
Hull City midfielder Robert Snodgrass, who came on as first-half
substitute and scored in the Premier League on Sunday.
Frankly, it’s difficult to get worked
up about either side at present and a bore draw would be no surprise
but, with home advantage, let’s try England to win 1-0 at 9/2 with
bet365, who’ll give us our money back as a free bet if it does
finish 0-0.
Selection: England to win 1-0
(9/2 with bet365)
