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Midweek Friendliesby Ben, last updated 2007-02-05 18:37:25Pinnacle PicksThis week's European football focus switches from the domestic to the international scene, as national sides limber up for forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers. Whether the action features club or country, www.pinnaclesports.com offer the same consistent value with 60% better odds on Asian Handicaps. England Looking to Get Back on Track England will run out in a brand new kit at Old Trafford on Wednesday night for their friendly with Spain. Steve McClaren and England fans will hope that it heralds a new era of success for the national team. Despite carrying no competitive weight this game is important for both teams as a platform prior to the resumption of their faltering Euro 2008 campaigns next month. The Three Lions have dropped four points from their last two qualifiers, while Spain are currently lying fifth in Group F, below Latvia and Northern Ireland, against whom they suffered a shock 3-2 in Belfast. The last time these sides met the Spaniards won 1-0, but the result was overshadowed the racist chants, and ugly confrontations on the pitch. Spain were comfortably beaten on their last visit to England in 2001, www.pinnaclesports.com price a repeat win for England 1.877 (0/scratch & -0.5) with Spain slight underdogs 2.050 (0/scratch +0.5). McClaren has drafted in four new players, of whom Joey Barton is called up for the first time. Defensively McClaren is forced to make changes to his preferred starting XI, with John Terry included in the squad despite having played just two minutes in his belated Chelsea comeback on Saturday. Jonathan Woodgate is favourite to pair Rio Ferdinand against a Spanish side brimming with dangerous attacking players. David Villa and Fernando Morientes have been on form for Valencia with eight goals in the Champions League, and pushing Los Ches to third in La Liga. Brazil & Portugal Top the Bill in London London is the focal point for the midweek schedule of international friendlies with no less than four games taking place in the capital on Tuesday night. Without doubt the biggest draw is the clash of Brazil and Portugal at the Emirates Stadium. Both sides have included the big names in their squads, though it is highly unlikely that Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Ronaldinho will see the game out. The Barcelona playmaker has scored penalties in the two recent meetings of the sides since 2002, but the Samba Boys won neither game. The last encounter saw some of the under-currents of national friction rise to the surface with Roberto Carlos red carded. This prestige friendly should hopefully be more about the football, but www.pinnaclesports.com still has Under 2.5 goals as favourite 1.870, with the Over at 2.050. Brazil did put three past Argentina at the Arsenal venue last September, and are slight favourites 1.935 (-0.5) with Portugal 1.990 (+0.5) having failed to win any of their last five international games away from home. No Question of Loyalty For Hiddink Holland and Russia meet in a friendly at the Amsterdam Arena on Wednesday night, bringing together two nations currently unbeaten in their Euro 2008 campaigns. Current Russian coach, Guus Hiddink, will know about the Dutch having won 11 Eredivisie titles with PSV and coached the Oranje for four years. Hiddink is looking to revive the fortunes on the Russian national side, absent from last year's World Cup. Marco Van Basten is guiding the Dutch side through a transitional stage, preferring youth over experience. He will however be without a host of injured players including the Premiership quintet of Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, Andre Ooijer, Edwin Van der Sar and Khalid Boulahrouz. Though the Dutch are unbeaten in 14 games, the absenteeism may force a move away from the usual 4-3-3 formation. www.pinnaclesports.com has Holland favourites 1.943 (-0.5 & -1.0) with Russia 1.980 (+0.5 & 1.0). ← Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 Next → |
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