England v Bulgaria - Betting preview

England v Bulgaria - Betting preview

ITV.com's Mark Segal looks ahead to Friday's opening Euro 2012 qualifier

England face Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday night with half of Her Majesty's press corps apparently praying for an away win.

Three Lions boss Fabio Capello has been mocked mercilessly ever since he named his squad with one or two columnists suggesting he should walk the plank even if England score a heavy win.

For those of us of slightly less hysterical nature Friday night presents an opportunity for a new start for England and, as ever, a chance to make a few quid.

As you'd expect for a team who've won their last 10 home games at Wembley, England are heavy odds-on favourites but there is value in the goalscoring markets.

Whether or not you think he has the fabled "footballing brain" you can't deny that Theo Walcott has started the season in blistering form.

The striker has scored four goals in his last two games and is a 7/1 shot to score the first goal at Wembley. He's also 7/4 to score at anytime which would be the bet I'd suggest.

In their piece on why it would be wrong to write off Bulgaria, Opta point out that in qualification for the last World Cup England conceded four goals in the 68th minute or later.

If this continues at Wembley then it could be worth looking out for Valeri Bojinov in the last goalscorer market.

The former Manchester City man may not have made his mark in the Premier League but was Parma's top scorer last season and at 14/1 looks a good shout.

Finally, with England having only kept three clean sheets in their last 10 matches and with Capello set to send out an inexperienced backline the 5/4 on both teams to score looks like one too good to miss.

See England v Bulgaria live on ITV1 & ITV.com from 7.30 on Friday

Get all the latest news and video ahead of the game right here

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