EURO 2012 Qualifiers Preview: September 3, 2010

England vs Bulgaria

England really need to win this, Capello’s job is hanging by a thread and a loss here could see the Italian walking away from managing the international side, with a massive payoff mind, but walking away none the less. There has been no excusing the England side’s poor performances in international competitions as of late and the World Cup debacle was just the latest in a long line of screw ups.

England will be without Carson who has been dropped from the squad due to bereavement although he is the only recent news when it comes to injuries, Terry and Lampard will be missing out although it has been known for a while that they wouldn’t be playing in this match. Although there is a silver lining in the fact that this means that a few less seasoned England potentials may get the chance to get some time on the field and Bulgaria isn’t a bad team to practice against.

Bulgaria, on paper this team shouldn’t stand a chance, they aren’t a side of big names, they aren’t a side renowned for their footballing talent, however the odds don’t seem to make much of a difference when you’re playing England so anything could happen and that is what the Bulgarian manger should be telling his players. If there was ever a good time for Bulgaria to play England then this was it, a time when the side has lost public backing and the management is in turmoil.

Belgium vs Germany

Well, the home side will not be looking forward to this match, Germany are expected to tear Belgium to shreds and there doesn’t seem to be a lot that the Belgians can do to inspire hope in the fact that their side does have some sort of chance. The Belgian squad is divided and the behind the scenes staff are complaining about sorry the state of affairs, their last two coaches have lasted just 6 months in the job, there is a noted distance between the older and the younger players, To put things simply nobody is getting along. Belgium does have some good players Fellaini, Komapny and Vermaelen to name a few from the Premiership, however this isn’t going to matter for a team that is so obviously divided there is no way they could play as a team.

The Germans on the other hand have no such problems: they are well known for being organised and together, their biggest back room struggle is the gentle tug of war that is going on between Ballack and Lahm for the captains armband. Ballack will not be playing due to injury, however he has been promised his armband back when he returns to the squad. If you’re betting on the score line of this match, bet Germany and bet a high amount of goals on their part. If you think France were disorganised, Belgium are worse, this match is only ever going to go one way and the Germans are going to be going there with style.

Liechtenstein vs Spain

Well, this is a David and Goliath story and a half isn’t it, odds of Liechtenstein winning this, zero if we are all honest with ourselves. Spain are the best team in the world right now, this is not something that the tiny home nation can compete against, well at least not with any hope of actually winning anyway. The question isn’t about who is going to win it is about by how much Spain will win. It’s actually got to the point where some bookies are suggesting bets such as 10-0 to the away side and actively promoting them assuming this is the sort of thing that the punters are going to go for. In fact an awful lot of bookies refused to take bets on Spain to win.

Spain do have some concerns: Torres for example will need to be used sparingly if he is to avoid picking up yet another injury and there are one or two squad members side-lined who could’ve got a run out against the European minnows.

Spain are going to cruise to victory here and there is little more to say other than that if by some miracle Liechtenstein even managed to achieve a draw this would shock the world. It has been a long time since any team has retained a European title although if any team is going to do it it’s bound to be this current Spanish side.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores and live sports