England vs Trinidad & Tobago Betting Preview

England and Trinidad & Tobago lock horns for the first time in Nuremberg on June 15 and although England are a best-priced 1/6 to prevail, the tiny Caribbean nation proved during their stalemate with Sweden on Saturday that they are not to be underestimated. To be fair, Leo Beenhakker's charges were unlucky in that match against the Swedes. They were reduced to ten men when Avery John picked up his second yellow for a challenge on Anders Svensson, which the latter made a complete meal of - and the challenge was more enthusiastic rather than malicious. Furthermore, Trinidad & Tobago still fought the good fight and rather than merely repelling Sweden, they actually nearly scored twice with Carlos Edwards and Glenn Cornell both going close either side of the interval. As you would expect, the more insistent pressure was provided by Sweden, but the Soca Warriors were nothing if not game and West Ham keeper Shaka Hislop stepped into the breach to replace injured first-choice keeper Kelvin Jack and duly made a string of fine saves to repel the Swedish attack. He will take some passing if maintaining that form. Despite recording a 1-0 verdict over Paraguay, England were disappointing to be candid. After a bright start when taking the lead after a Beckham free-kick skimmed off the head of Carlos Gamarra and into his own net, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Three Lion's might maul their rivals. However, it ended up being a workmanlike victory. Michael Owen looked anything but sharp and was replaced after 55 minutes had passed, at which point Sven, bizarrely, opted for a defensive strategy, bringing on Owen Hargreaves, a player whom, despite not cutting the mustard in all honesty, remains very much to the fore of Sven's mind. You would expect England to have outplayed Paraguay, a team rated twenty-three places below them in the official FIFA rankings, but this was not the case at all and, being brutally frank about it, the excuse about the hot weather just doesn't wash any more. These are players that are subject to rigorous training and are given time to acclimatise. Ecuador are used to playing at altitude yet they were industrious in beating Poland 2-0 in their opening match. If they can excel under conditions different to those they are most used to, why can't England? The main positive to take from the Paraguay match in my opinion was Frank Lampard's incisive approach. He unleashed a couple of cracking shots during the game and, on another day, one of the belters would have crashed into the opposition's net. Surely, England will improve for that opening match and it's almost inconceivable to envisage anything other than a victory, despite Sven's tactical nous. Or, rather, lack of. On the subject of Frank Lampard, backing the Chelsea star to score anytime in this fixture at 8/5 with bsquare rates the best value for punters. His desire to score is always evident and his movement is exemplary. He always seems to get himself into a position where he has enough sight of goal to have a crack and, invariably, he's on target. England must now collectively put their best foot forward and not rely on an individual moment of magic. They are a top-priced 13/2 to win the tournament outright which is laughable given their performance against Paraguay - they must now demonstrate that they are worthy of being such a short price.Verdict: 1.25pts Frank Lampard to score anytime @ 8/5 Bluesq