England set to drop Beckham and Robinson
21st November, 2007
England v Croatia Wembley, London Wednesday 21 November Kick-off: 2000 GMT Coverage: Live on BBC One
Ahead of England’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia this evening, England boss Steve McLaren will take some bold decisions in dropping Paul Robinson and David Beckham to the bench, in favour of the less experienced Scott Carson and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Gareth Barry is expected to join Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole in a five-man midfield, with Peter Crouch playing as the lone striker. When attacking, the 4-3-3 formatation will provide support for Couch, and when defending, the wingers will drop back to make it more of a 4-5-1 formation. The back four will be Micah Richards and Wayne Bridge as full backs, with Sol Campbell and Joleon Lescott playing in the middle.
England now only need a point against the already-qualified Croatia to secure qualification to the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland, and a two goal win would see England qualify as group winners avoiding some of the tougher countries in the group stages of the finals. England are 8/15 to win the game with Paddy Power and qualify, whilst Croatia are 7/1 to stop England progressing to the finals, also with Paddy Power. Download our Gaming Alerts software to be kept up to date with specials for the game
