Lampard To Skipper England Against Spain With Terry On The Bench
England face European and World Champions Spain at Wembley on Saturday night in a game that should be very informative about England's chances at Euro 2012, if England have any pretensions of being involved in the latter stages of the tournament next summer then they will at least have to put up a good show against Spain with home advantage. England will also have to prove they can do it without Wayne Rooney, the Man Utd striker will be suspended for the opening three matches of Euro 2012 and has been left out of the squad for this week's friendly double header so that Fabio Capello can examine his other options.
Fabio Capello on Friday confirmed that Frank Lampard will lead England out against Spain, with John Terry set to start on the bench, but Terry will return on Wednesday against Sweden with the captain's arm band. Fabio Capello was cagey in his press conference, confirming that Phil Jones will start the match in central midfield but refusing to reveal any more details about his team despite claiming that he has known his line up for weeks. Meanwhile Gabby Agbonlahor will play no part after picking up a hamstring injury, Agbonlahor has now returned to Aston Villa.
Spain are likely to field a very strong side against England although any eleven they pick from their squad will be top class. Iker Casillas is likely to start in goal but Victor Valdes or Pepe Reina may get a run out in the second half. David Villa, Spain's highest ever scorer and a goalscorer at Wembley in the Champions League Final in May, should start up front rather than Fernando Torres whilst other Premiership players who could be in action include David Silva and Juan Mata. There could also be a first match in England for Cesc Fabregas since he joined Barcelona from Arsenal.
England have home advantage and these friendlies often throw up some unusual results but all things considered Spain look a very decent price to win this match. They won all their games during Euro 2012 qualifying and of course won the World Cup less than 18 months ago. They are likely to keep the ball well and could win this game at a canter if England are careful. England lost at home to France in a friendly twelve months ago and Spain are a lot better than France so Spain look well worth a bet here.