England looking for fast start against Bulgaria in Euro qualifiers

When England takes to the field on Sept. 3rd at Wembley Stadium in London for their Group G Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria, the team won’t have as many changes in it as many fans had hoped for. Even though it appears manager Fabio Capello has more or less gone back to the old guard after experimenting a little bit in a 2-1 friendly over Hungary last month only 13 players of the 23-man World Cup squad remain.

Granted, Chelsea’s John Terry and Frank Lampard are missing from the fold, as is striker Peter Crouch of Spurs, but that’s due to injuries. Goalkeeper David James, striker Emile Heskey, and defender Wes Brown all retired from international duty after England’s woeful world Cup this summer. Keeper Paul Robinson did the same after Capello called him up for the game against Hungary and Paul Scholes has made it known he won’t make a comeback with England. Jermain Defoe is in the squad after the Spurs striker shelved plans for groin surgery until another time.

So where does that leave Capello? Well, he brought back Arsenal’s Theo Walcott after dropping him from the World Cup, as he’s gotten off to a great start to the season with four goals. Strikers Darren Bent and Carlton Cole have been selected as well as youngsters Adam Johnson of Man City and Kieran Gibbs of Arsenal.

Many fans were clamoring for Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere to be included in the squad as well as Newcastle striker Andy Carroll, but they’re with the Under-21 team. Wilshere didn’t do his chances any good after getting in trouble with police during the weekend after a nightclub disturbance in the early hours of the morning. Spanish-born Mikel Arteta was also mentioned by the press as a possibility, but it’s highly unlikely England will ever go the route of using foreign-born players who have no ties to the country.

At least Capello shouldn’t have any doubts as to who his keeper should be as Man City’s Joe Hart should be the automatic choice in net after his excellent start to the season. David Stockdale was also a possibility in goal, but Scott Carson and Ben Foster are the backups.

The 43rd-ranked Bulgaria won’t be pushovers even though they’ll be weakened by the fact Manchester United striker and all-time leading scorer Dmitar Berbatov has retired from national duty. Although they didn’t make the World Cup this summer, the team and country has a lot of history. Stilyan Petrov of Aston Villa is the team’s captain and midfielder Martin Petrov of Bolton also plays with the rest of the squad spread throughout Europe. Stanimir Stoilov the manager. They’ve played in seven World Cups and two European Championships, coming in fourth in the 1994 World Cup.

The first time these teams met was at the World Cup in Chile in 1962 and it ended 0-0. Since then, they’ve met seven more times and the overall record stands at four wins and four draws for England with six clean sheets. The last time they met was in 1999 and ended in a 1-1 draw.

England needs to look impressive and Theo Walcott has something to prove after missing the World Cup, so it’d be a good idea to start him. Steven Gerrard has played well of late and the captaincy has raised his game. England usually plays to the level of their opponent, and in a game like this they usually either shine or struggle. They have the potential to win 4-0, but often settle for 2-1.

Betting on England vs Bulgaria

Sportsbook William Hill has the odds of an England win at 3/10, with a draw at 4/1 and a Bulgaria victory at 10/1. England to win 2-1 is listed at 25/2 and a 4-0 win for them at 12/1.

Our prediction is a win by at least two goals for England, we believe they will get off to a good start and they should do better in the qualifiers. Place your bets at William Hill and get free bets worth of £25.