England vs Kazakhstan preview- 11th October 2008

Posted on | October 9, 2008 | No Comments

England face Kazakhstan in a World Cup 2010 qualifier on Saturday evening at Wembley hoping to carry forward their good form from the 4-1 win over Croatia last month.

Wins over Croatia and Andorra saw England rise to 14th in the latest FIFA rankings. Fabio Capello also overlooked Newcastle striker Michael Owen for this clash. Shaun Wright Philips and Peter Crouch have earned a recall, while Steven Gerrard returns from injury. Yet, the biggest headache in front of Capello is his midfield. Joe Cole is out due to injury, which robs the Italian of his first choice left midfielder. Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry performed well, but with the return of Gerrard, Capello has some hard decisions to make. Putting Gerrard on the wings like McLaren did could cause more harm than good. Gerrard tends to stray inside, and this could bring pressure upon the wingbacks. Another option is to drop Barry or Lampard. Gerrard and Lampard have traditionally never combined well together, which will probably see Barry safe. Or Capello could chose for a 4-5-1 and leave Emile Heskey on the bench, employing Wayne Rooney as his sole striker. Captain John Terry is likely to miss out with a back problem, which means Lescott and Ferdinand will play in central defence.

Kazakhstan will be wary of the pace and energy of Theo Walcott, who scored a hat trick against Croatia. Walcott is himself competing for a first team spot with Wright Philips and David Beckham. The Kazakhs, ranked 131 in the world, are widely recognised as the whipping boys of the group. They lost 3-0 and 3-1 to Croatia and Ukraine in their first two qualifiers. Former Borussia defender Bernd Storck has replaced Arno Pijpers as coach, and has introduced a major shakeup. Out of the 21 players that Storck has named, only four featured in the first two games. Many of the players are under 22- called up by Storck from the U-21 national squad he also coaches. The national side lost to Almaty in a weekend practice match, and some Kazakh fans think that the coach has changed things too much.

England are expected to win, but Kazakhstan cannot be taken lightly. They have nothing to lose, and could well spring a surprise. I expect England to win 2 or three goals to nil, with Lampard, Rooney and Walcott on the scoresheet.

Related posts:

1. Euro 2008 Qualifier Israel vs England
2. Croatia vs England preview-10 September
3. England vs Estonia Euro 2008 Qualifier
4. England vs Ukraine preview
5. England vs Mexico preview- International Friendly

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