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England Look Uneasy Favourites for Clash Against Swiss

England take on Switzerland in a friendly on Tuesday evening and the bookmakers have installed them as strong odds on favourites to win the game. While home advantage means they deserve to be favourites, the price on offer for an England win appears to really underestimate the abilities of Switzerland. Something else to consider here is that this game is a friendly and not a Nations League clash, so there is a good chance that these two will rest players and give others the chance to shine, something to look at before placing your wager on the game.

England Lose in First Game Since World Cup

After a hugely successful World Cup, when England walked out onto the field on Saturday evening against Spain, expectations were high. The crowd expected a huge performance and after scoring early in the game to take a 1-0 lead, the excitement and anticipation surrounding this team went up another notch. However, Spain came back and equalised straight away, and as the game settled down it was the Spanish who took control and had a lot of the ball despite being away from home.

They made that possession count and took a 2-1 lead, something they managed to hold onto for the remainder of the game. England tried and had a couple of good chances to draw level, including when Danny Welbeck scored in injury time, giving England what he thought was an equaliser. That wasn’t given for a dubious foul on the goalkeeper, and the game ended shortly after giving Spain a valuable away win for the Nations League standings. They go on to face Croatia in their next Nations League game on Tuesday and a win would give them a nice cushion at the top of the table.

In small patches we saw England play the same kind of football as they did in the World Cup, but for the majority of the game the Spanish had good control of the football. It was expected that England wouldn’t be able to keep up their levels from the World Cup, and this young team will have an off day every now and again. The sign of a good team is not always how good they look when they are winning, but how they respond to defeat and this is something we will see on Tuesday when England take to the field again.

Big Swiss Win in Opening Nations League Game

No one got themselves off to a better start in the Nations League than Switzerland at the weekend. They won their opener at home to Iceland 6-0, much to the delight of their fans. We all know that Iceland didn’t compete at the World Cup like we saw back at Euro 2016, but they are still a decent team, and this was all too easy for the Swiss who were very impressive.

The star of the game was certainly Xherdan Shaqiri who scored a goal and helped out on two more, as well as being a threat every time he was on the ball, especially when delivering set pieces. Should he play in the game on Tuesday, which looks likely, then England are going to have to keep a close eye on him because he is an incredible talent when at the top of his game. If he does put in a similar performance on Tuesday then Liverpool fans may start to question why they haven’t seen Shaqiri start for them since his move this summer.

It is difficult to know what kind of Swiss team will play in this one, just days after a game where they played their best eleven because it meant something. I expect they will play a decent side, but could rest a couple of players, which is similar to what England will do I think, so that should even itself out when the game begins.

A Chance for England’s Youngsters to Shine Again

As much as the World Cup gave England huge hope going forward, we have to remember that this team is very much work in progress. The Nations League will allow the team to play competitive football against top nations to see how they are progressing, while friendlies like this one are a great opportunity to allow even more youngsters the chance to shine.

Leicester duo Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray have both been added to the squad since the game against Spain, and even if they don’t get the chance to play on Tuesday, being around the full national team will give them valuable experience. With fewer friendlies due to the Nations League, Gareth Southgate has fewer opportunities to give newcomers a chance, so I expect he will field a couple here to see what they can offer to his team. This will give us an exciting insight into where this youthful England team is going next, and what we have to look forward to over the coming months and years as they mature and take the nation forward.

England vs Switzerland Betting Tips

Betting on friendlies is not the easiest thing to do and it is almost impossible to know what kind of team these two will put out, and how they will manage their substitutions during the game. The lack of friendlies moving forward due to the Nations League will make it even harder for managers to work out what to do, so it will be interesting to see how England line up here, and something to note for further friendlies in the future.

I think both teams will give a couple of youngsters the chance to start and make a couple of changes from what was their best eleven’s on Saturday. I also think we will see a few more used when the expected substitutions come around in the second half.

England are favourites for the game and rightfully so, although I think they are a far shorter price than I would have had them, and that underestimates the ability that Switzerland have. Iceland are not the force we saw in Euro 2016, but they are a good team and Switzerland were fantastic when beating them at the weekend, something that will have given the group a huge lift.

I think the Swiss are good enough to take a draw from this game, and that is the bet that I will be taking. If we see a lot of substitutions in the second half which is usually the case in friendlies then that will disrupt the game greatly, with both teams struggling to get a grip on the game. This is something else that gives the draw more chance of happening, so I am more than happy to side with this game ending level.