San Marino vs England Prediction and Preview – 05/09/2015
Euro 2016 Qualification preview – San Marino vs England of Ireland prediction
San Marino are one of the lowest ranked teams at 193rd and are never expected to qualify, however as the ultimate underdog everyone has a lot of respect for them. 39 year old Andy Selva is their top goal scorer of all time with eight goals, which is impressive considering they have scored only one competitive goal in seven years. Defender Christian Bolli has played more minutes than any other player in qualifying and he will hope that they can frustrate England.
England are without the likes of Leighton Baines, Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck through injury. However Luke Shaw, Raheem Sterling and Jonjo Shelvey have all had good starts to the season and will come in as good replacements. Wayne Rooney will be looking to beat Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 49 England goals and this is perhaps his best opportunity. It will be a case of how many goals they can score, and I predict they will go with a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Possible Line-ups
San Marino: 4-1-4-1 formation: Simoncini; Palazzi, Della Valle, Brolli, Bonini; Simoncini; Vitaioli, Tossi, Chiaruzzi, Hirsch; Selva
England: 4-2-3-1 formation: Hart; Shaw, Cahill, Smalling, Clyne; Carrick, Shelvey; Sterling, Barkley, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Rooney
Statistics
- San Marino have won 0, drawn 1 and lost 9 of their last 10 matches
- England have won 8, drawn 2 and lost 0 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, San Marino have scored an average of 0 goals and conceded an average of 3.4 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, England have scored an average of 2.3 goals and conceded an average of 0.5 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 6 of San Marino’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of England’s previous 10 matches
- The last and game between these two was the reverse qualification fixture at Wembley which ended in a 5-0 victory for England. San Marino have never conceded less than 5 versus England
Prediction
San Marino know they won’t win this game, but that doesn’t mean they cannot make it difficult for England. They typically get all eleven players behind the ball which makes it very difficult to play around the edge of the box, therefore England’s patience will be tested.
England are on the brink of qualifying for Euro 2016 and will pretty much confirm it with a win versus San Marino. It will be a case of how many goals England will score considering the weakness of the opposition. Rooney will only have one thing in mind, and that is scoring at least one goal to equal – and maybe eclipse, Sir Bobby Charlton’s record.
An England win is almost certain, and I think they will win by at least 5 goals. It will hinge on whether they can break San Marino early on in order to settle any frustrations they can cause.
We say: Wayne Rooney to score first and England to win 5-0 at 11/1 with Bet365
What are your predictions?