Big scores in international football are not as common as they used to be but England really should putting Andorra to the sword in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier in Barcelona.
The Three Lions beat Albania 2-0 and Latvia 3-0 in their opening Group K matches at Wembley in March while Andorra were expected to be the scapegoats in a section which also contains Serbia – and duly lost 1-0 at home to Latvia and 3-0 in Albania.
Finding an edge in the betting markets is going to be tough, especially when taking into account that it’s been a long, tiring season at club level for Thomas Tuchel’s troops, but England are still expected to fire on all cylinders and the pressure is on for a decent performance backed by goals galore. Thankfully, the statistics show that should be the case at the RCDE Stadium at the weekend.
There have been 25 goals in the six matches between the two nations with the Three Lions yet to concede and only Portugal, with 29, and – rather surprisingly – Estonia with 28 have scored more against the Tricolors.
When it comes to World Cup qualifiers, England have played Andorra four times and their 100 cent record is only bettered by their seven wins in seven outings against Albania and six from six against San Marino. The last time these two countries were pitted against each other in the biggest tournament of all was on the road to the 2022 World Cup finals when England won 4-0 at home and 5-0 away.
Throw into the mix that Andorra are 173rd in the Fifa standings and are the lowest ranked team the Three Lions have faced since walloping 210th-placed San Marino 10-0 in November 2021 and it is fair to assume this is going to be a routine affair.
Andorra v England odds
The only way for visiting fans to be on the edge of their seats is if Tuchel’s team underwhelms and supporters become twitchy at the lack of goals as England seek to win five competitive fixtures without conceding for only the third time in their history, having previously reached those milestones in September 2005 and October 2007.
Follow England at 17/20 with William Hill to win by over 3.5 goals, while a 4-0 victory is 11/2 with Paddy Power and Sky Bet.
Harry Kane is 15/8 with bet365 to score the first goal in Barcelona while Declan Rice has outshone all his team-mates with two goals and three assists in his last six internationals and is evens with bet365 to pad those stats one way or the other.
French Open odds: Iga Swiatek vs Aryna Sabalenka
There won’t be many better tennis matches this year than the French Open semi-final between defending champion Iga Swiatek and world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Swiatek has won 42 of her last 44 matches at Roland Garros but Sabalenka looks unstoppable and the bookies find it difficult to split them with the former the slight favourite at 4/5 with William Hill and bet365 and the latter 6/5 with Betway.
The best bet, though, is to take the 13/10 on offer with Betway for the match to go the distance then settle down to enjoy three sets of glorious action.
Epsom Derby odds
Aidan O’Brien has won the Epsom Derby ten times and sends out Delacroix and The Lion In Winter as strong fancies to make it three successes in a row on Saturday, following the victories of Augustine then City of Troy.
However, Ruling Court, trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, can end that run with the impressive 2000 Guineas winner having improved since finishing a close third to the latter of O’Brien’s chances in the Acomb Stakes at York last August.
Ruling Court is easy to back for the £1.5million jackpot at 7/2 with Ladbrokes, Coral, Paddy Power, Betway and many more while each-way value is represented by Stanhope Gardens at 16/1 in those places and many others.
The fillies get their chance to shine 24 hours earlier in the Oaks where Appleby and Buick can triumph with last month’s classy 1000 Guineas champion Desert Flower, who is the one to beat at 5/4 across the board.