Live on ITV1: Fri 20:00 England start as 7/2 underdogs in tonight’s international friendly in Spain (5/6)| Live Scores
After romping through their European Championship qualifying group undefeated, accumulating maximum points in the process, England face their sternest test since last year’s World Cup when they play Spain on Friday night.
Roy Hodgson’s men kick off with bookies offering them at their longest price (7/2, bet365) since they faced Italy in the Arena da Amazonia in their opening World Cup contest last year. Spain, Stan James’s 13/2 third favourites to win Euro 2016, are installed as BetVictor’s 5/6 odds-on jollies, with the draw priced at 5/2 by Ladbrokes.
England have lost three of their last four duels against Spain, although a Frank Lampard goal was sufficient to settle matters when the sides met at Wembley four years ago, a dour, one-paced match, livened up only by the regular fielding of substitutes: six were used by both teams. Another constant flow of subs on Friday could make it difficult for punters mulling over the identity of possible goalscorers and they might be inclined to back more than one. Wayne Rooney is 11/5 at William Hill to score at any time, a market in which Leicester’s Jamie Vardy is priced at 3/1 by Winner.com. Chelsea’s Diego Costa is Paddy Power’s 13/0 favourite to find the net, though it’s doubtful he’ll play for 90 minutes.
England and Spain have drawn only two of their 23 contests, although just five of those could be deemed competitive matches. Nevertheless, Skybet’s 6/1 for it to end one apiece on Friday is the bookies’ most heavily-backed result in its correct score market, while bet365 consider the chances of both teams scoring to be a 4/5 shot and Stan James chalk 9/2 against both halves ending with honours even.
Ladbrokes’ 11/10 for England to win when handed a one goal start looks good value, although William Hill’s 7/2 for them to keep a clean sheet is one for the optimists. Elsewhere, Paddy Power post 7/2 against the game’s opening goal arriving inside the first ten minutes and for those expecting England to carry on where they left off in their Euro 16 qualifying group, Winner.com post an attractive 14/1 against Roy’s Boys securing a 2-1 victory.
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