Another international weekend, another round of hopes and aspirations. Roy Hodgson’s men are back in World Cup qualification action tomorrow against minnows Moldova.
England’s last two matches have been against Italy. An agonising Euro2012 quarter final of uninspiring England play, ended with an equally agonising exit via penalty shootout. The follow up friendly in the neutral territory of Switzerland was more to the English liking, but the match lacked a competitve edge. But it did show England players could retain possession and even pass the ball. A big step forward from the first match in Ukraine.
Roy Mold-over the team selection during training yesterday
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TEAM NEWS
Hodgson remains adamant that he will continue to choose players based on current form and so is persisting with bad boy John Terry in the squad, regardless of his less than spotless record with the FA.
With Andy Carroll and Wayne Rooney both out through injury, the England manager will likely stick with the 4-4-2 formation he favoured in Poland and Ukraine. Ashley Young (knee) will also be absent. Hodgson has taken the opportunity to bring in talented youngsters like Jack Butland, Tom Cleverley and Ryan Bertrand who all impressed for Team GB during the Olympics.
Midfield looks the area where Hodgson has the harder decisions. If he sticks to four across the middle, it looks most likely to be between Gerrard, Lampard, Carrick, Milner and Oxlade-Chamberlain. An alternative would be to play all 5 with just one up front.
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|
HEAD-TO-HEAD |
MOLDOVA |
ENGLAND |
|
Wins |
0 |
2 |
|
Draws |
0 |
|
|
Goals Scored |
0 |
7 |
ONE-TO-WATCH
Jermaine Defoe
With Rooney out injured for the upcoming fixtures, JD will need to lead by example and use his experience in front of budding fellow strikers Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge. Should he start against the Moldovans, he’ll reach his 50th cap and will want to celebrate the occasion by adding to his last England goal against Italy.
Igor Picuşceac
The Moldovan number 9 has ten caps for his country, scoring twice. Don’t expect the English goal to be bombarded with shots, but England have a reputation for being sloppy in the ‘lesser’ games and will need to be aware of his presence.
FORM GUIDE
Moldova- DLLD England- WWDW
STATS AND FACTS
- Moldova are yet to score a goal in 2012. They have played 14 games since the start of 2011 and won just 2.
- They are ranked 141st in the world, 138 places behind England.
- Serghei Cleşcenco is Moldova’s ALL TIME top goalscorer with 11 goals.
- England haven’t lost a game in 90 minutes on foreign soil since June 2010.
- In three of England’s last seven games a Manchester United player has scored first.
As we’re sure you’re just as clueless as we were about Moldova, why not check out PlayUp’s Guide to Moldova by clicking here!
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