Tottenham

Spurs go to the San Siro hoping to continue the strong start to their first outing in the Champions League after an away draw with Werder Bremen and a home win against FC Twente.

The north London club are on four points in Group A alongside Inter (11/10 Serie A outright) and Redknapp believes that a cautious approach is the right way to go against the European champions.

He said: “We can’t go out there and be wide open. We’ve got to be sensible against the better teams.

“We have to be difficult to beat, first and foremost. I wouldn’t sit here and kid ourselves – if we came back with a point we would all be delighted.

“We want to win, obviously, but you have got to hit them on the break. You are not going to suddenly start swarming all over them. They are a top team.”

Spurs have had their big challenge made easier as Inter will be without Diego Milito and Esteban Cambiasso, who both picked up injuries playing for Argentina.

Cambiasso is key in midfield for the Italian side as he manages to break up play and has a strong passing game.

Milito was key for the San Siro club last season, scoring vital goals in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich as well as hitting the back of the net in the Italian domestic cup final and scoring important goals in the Serie A.

Redknapp thinks that Spurs will still face a tough task despite the absence of the two Argentineans.

He said: “They have real dangers. [Samuel] Eto’o is playing fantastic at the moment for them. It will be a great game for the players to go there and show what they can do.

“We have always got attacking players. Whoever we pick we will have our share of players who want to go forward and create and score goals. That is how we play.

“It’s a big challenge and a fantastic game to look forward to.”

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Fabio Capello

The 33-year-old former Blackburn and Southampton striker has never been picked for the full international squad, despite having impressed for the Trotters in recent campaigns.

With Davies coming to the end of his career, it will come as a shock to the player himself that he has been included in the Italian’s 23 for the qualifier.

Capello had few options to choose from with Bobby Zamora and Jermain Defoe injured and Emile Heskey having retired from the international game.

Davies is joined in the squad by Peter Crouch, Darren Bent and Wayne Rooney, despite his recent injury problems.

The Manchester United forward was ruled out for three weeks last week by Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson but has been given a call-up by Capello.

The 23-year-old has struggled for form this season after an awful World Cup, with reports suggesting he has been badly affected by the well publicised off-the-field problems which have dogged his personal life recently.

Despite his problems, Capello has decided to include Rooney for the Wembley clash against Montenegro next Tuesday, who join England (9/1 not to qualify for Euro 2012) at the top of Group G having won their first two matches.

There is no place for Newcastle striker Andy Carroll, despite the promising forward being left out of the England Under-21 squad.

The other surprise inclusions, aside from Davies, include recalls for West Ham’s Robert Green and Liverpool’s Joe Cole, both of whom haven’t been seen in an England shirt since the World Cup.

Cole and Green have had mixed starts for their respective clubs this season, with Capello opting to given the Hammers shot stopper a reprieve in place of Scott Carson.

Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere also makes the 23 having featured in every one of the Gunners matches so far this season.

There are also recalls for John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, after both missed out on the first two qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.

Aaron Lennon also finds himself back in the England (9/1 Euro 2012 outright) fold with Theo Walcott sidelined through injury.

Those unlucky enough to miss out after call-ups for the last squad include Gary Cahill, Michael Carrick, Carlton Cole and Kieran Gibbs.

England squad in full:

Ben Foster (Birmingham City), Robert Green (West Ham United), Joe Hart (Manchester City);

Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa);

Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Joe Cole (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa);

Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin Davies (Bolton), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

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Jose Reina

The Reds’ goalkeeper was outstanding on Sunday – making two wonderful first-half saves as Roy Hodgson’s side were held to a goalless draw by Birmingham City at St Andrew’s.

That result means the Merseysiders have won one, drawn two and lost one of their first four games and it appears they will face a real battle to finish in the top four once again this season.

However, Reina says the club needs to be “realistic” in their aims and has called for patience as they try and compete at the top of the table.

Reina said: “We have to make sure that people don’t think of winning the league or being in the top four already at this moment.

“It is going to take a while. We have got to get used to the new players and then the system.

“There are many good teams and our target is to be up there but we have to be realistic.”

Next up for Liverpool in the league is a trip to arch rivals Manchester United and a defeat there would leave them seriously trailing other clubs in the race for a top-four place (Liverpool 1/3 to secure a top-six finish).

However, they will welcome back influential attacking midfielder Joe Cole for the game following his three match suspension for being sent off against Arsenal. This will provide a significant boost to the Reds’ aspirations but Reina has urged caution over his side’s chances.

“Is a Champions League spot realistic this season? I don’t know,” Reina added.

“We will find out at the end of the season what we can achieve. No-one has patience nowadays. We are just asking for a little bit.”

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The east London outfit have lost all three of their Premier League matches thus far and the club’s only victory came thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Scott Parker against League Two side Oxford United in the Carling Cup.

West Ham currently find themselves rooted to the foot of the league having been beaten by Manchester United, Bolton and Aston Villa, conceding nine goals and scoring just one.

The Hammers are likely to remain there for the next week at least as they prepare to welcome league leaders and defending champions Chelsea (1/3 to beat West Ham) to Upton Park on Saturday.

Having replaced Gianfranco Zola with Avram Grant at the back end of last season and brought in six new players during the transfer window the Hammers had been expected to move away from the wrong end of the league.

However, Grant’s new additions have failed to bed in and with constant speculation linking the likes of Scott Parker and Carlton Cole with moves away from London it has been a tough start for the Israeli manager.

West Ham owners Sullivan and David Gold were outspoken in their criticism of former boss Zola when the team were struggling last season.

However, Sullivan has come out in support of Grant and insists there is no truth behind the rumours the new manager is already under pressure to produce results.

“I’d like to put the record straight,” Sullivan told the London Evening Standard.

“Nobody is pressing any panic buttons and reports to the contrary are rubbish. We are building a new team under a new manager and transition is a tough time but game by game, I anticipate an improvement over the coming months.

“We expect the team to come together over the next few games and see some real progress. When we looked at the early fixtures we knew we faced a tough time but we only managed two points from the same fixtures last season.”

The former Birmingham owner also backtracked on comments he had made about the foreign contingent at Upton Park after he suggested last weekend that some of them ‘couldn’t be bothered’.

Sullivan now insists that it was just one or two players he was talking about when made his controversial outburst and claims the other members of the squad are all working hard to improve the Hammers situation.

Grant has also given his backing to the players and the board, insisting everyone is trying to do their best to rectify the current situation.

However, Grant will do well to start his salvage operation against Chelsea (6/5 Premier League outright) with the Blues having won all three of their opening matches, scoring 14 goals and conceding none thus far.

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Wigan

Roberto Martinez’s side have suffered two heavy defeats in their opening Premier League games after being humbled at the DW Stadium, first by new boys Blackpool and then champions Chelsea last Saturday.

Latics have shipped 10 goals in the process, scoring none in reply, as their poor form from the end of last term continues following the 8-0 drubbing by Chelsea on the final day of the last campaign.

Wigan were dumped out of the Carling Cup at the second-round stage last season after losing 4-1 to Blackpool who were then still a Championship side.

But at least by that point Latics had some league points on the board following a shock opening-day win at Astom Villa – 12 months on things are very different for the DW Stadium outfit.

And McCarthy, who was the pick of Wigan’s side at the weekend, admits they must get up and running sooner rather than later after a bright start against Chelsea ultimately counted for nothing (Latics 20/23 – Relegation).

He said: “We have to take the positives. At times we matched Chelsea all over the pitch, especially in the first half when I feel we dominated the game.

“But they got that crucial first goal in that half and showed their class as true champions.

“Although we’ve conceded 10 goals, we are not going to look at it that way.

“We’ve suffered two defeats and hopefully we can now lift ourselves and kick on on Tuesday. We’ll go there and try and give it our all.

“Of course, the manager isn’t happy and rightly so. Conceding five goals in the second half is not acceptable and we need to address that.

“We just need to work on the training ground. I’m sure it’s as simple as that.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has acted to bolster his defensive options by signing free agent Steven Caldwell who was released by Burnley at the end of last season.

The 29-year-old joins his brother, Gary, at the DW Stadium and is in contention for the trip to Victoria Park.

Tuesday’s Carling Cup second-round action:
Bradford v Preston
Brentford v Hull
Crewe v Ipswich
Hartlepool v Wigan
Leeds United v Leicester
Leyton Orient v West Brom
Millwall v Middlesbrough
MK Dons v Blackpool
Morecambe v Burnley
Peterborough v Cardiff
Portsmouth v Crystal Palace
Scunthorpe v Sheff Wed
Southampton v Bolton
Stoke v Shrewsbury
Sunderland v Colchester
Tranmere v Swansea
Watford v Notts County
West Ham v Oxford Utd
Wolverhampton v Southend
Blackburn v Norwich
Reading v Northampton

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The 30-year-old versatile stopper joined Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Paul Robinson in calling time on his career with the Three Lions after the pair were given a chance to prove coach Fabio Capello wrong for leaving them out of his World Cup squad this summer.

Robinson stated that he found the role of being a number three or four goalkeeper with England ‘very frustrating’ and that was his reason for quitting.

Meanwhile, the Football Association confirmed that Brown made the journey to England’s team hotel in Watford on Sunday evening to inform Capello of his decision to retire. In a statement, Brown revealed that he wanted to step aside to allow younger players to make the step up into the squad ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifiers (England 1/12 – To Qualify).

He added: “I regard it as an honour and a privilege to have represented my country at every level from under-15s upwards. I have always been very proud to play for England and wish them well in future tournaments.”

Brown only won 23 caps for England since been called up by Kevin Keegan, ironically against Hungary, in 1999, mainly due to a myriad of injury problems. He was part of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s squad for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea but he failed to feature in a single game.

Brown did feature in Capello’s first two games in charge against Switzerland and France before more injury problems sidelined him. And he did not even make the provisional 30-man squad for the summer’s World Cup in South Africa as Liverpool duo Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher were picked ahead of him.

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David Villla’s fifth goal of the tournament secured a late 1-0 quarter-final win for Spain over Paraguay to book their place in the last four and set up a showdown with the Germans (Spain 15/8f to win the World Cup, Germany 2/1).

Del Bosque says his side will need to improve their level of performance if they are to win on Wednesday, as they again looked well short of their best against Paraguay.

“We didn’t play well mainly because we didn’t get enough of the ball,” he said afterwards.

“We weren’t as at ease in possession as in other games and it’s important to be comfortable.”

However, the coach is pleased his side are still in with a shout in a competition which has seen big guns France, Italy, England, Brazil and Argentina all crash out early.

“We’re in the last four in the world,” he added. “It’s a good moment for Spanish football.”

Spain rode their luck to make it into the last four as Oscar Cordoba missed a penalty for Paraguay in the second half only for Xabi Alonso to do the same for Del Bosque’s side – the Real Madrid midfielder’s spot-kick having to be retaken after the referee spotted encroachment into the penalty area the first time around.

Spain are hoping to emulate France’s achievement in 1998 and 2000 by becoming European and World champions at the same time but they will have to beat an impressive German side if they are to do it.

Key midfielder Andres Iniesta has been taken aback by Germany’s displays in South Africa and he is predicting a titanic clash in Durban.

“Quite apart from their results, the Germans are playing brilliantly, so they must be tremendously motivated,” the Barcelona star said.

“It will be a game between two rivals who enjoy having the ball and I think it will be a beautiful battle.”

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France

Raymond Domenech’s team did not enjoy the best qualifying campaign and were forced to rely on Thierry Henry’s handball in order to edge past the Republic of Ireland in their two-legged play-off clash last autumn.

France will face South Africa, Mexico and Uruguay at the World Cup and Malouda knows they have improvements to make after winning the World Cup in 1998 and contesting the final last time around in Germany against Italy (France 15/2 – To Reach Final).

The Chelsea flyer told the Guardian: “The problem is, after what we did in 2006 – and of course there was a great generation in 1998 and 2000 – expectations are very high.

“And the Euro in 2008 was a disaster. So when you are in a bad situation everything is coming out, and people are pointing the finger.

“The World Cup is really close and honestly we have a lot of problems to fix. When there is tension, when there is high pressure games, you need characters.

“You need people to come out and say ‘I will take responsibility’.”

Malouda, at 29 years of age and with 54 appearances for his country, is possibly playing in his last World Cup and along with William Gallas (81), Eric Abidal (55) and Thierry Henry (121) he is one of four players in Domenech’s 23-man squad to have won over a half-century of caps.

Veterans like Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram are no longer around and Malouda knows there is a vacuum to fill in terms of leadership, both on and off the pitch.

He added: “Honestly we have a lot of problems. We have to talk about a lot of things.

“But for that you need someone to take the first step. Guys like (Patrick) Vieira and (Claude) Makelele who can take the lead. If they are not there, somebody has to do it.”

France kick off their World Cup Group A campaign against Uruguay on Friday before games against South Africa and Mexico (France 11/10 – Group A Winner).

Domenech will bow out after the World Cup with his successor, France legend Laurent Blanc, already confirmed in the post for the start of the Euro 2012 qualifiers (12/1 – Euro 2012 Outright).

France will face games against Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania and Luxembourg in Group D (Les Bleus 4/9 – Group Winner).

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Loew has recovered from the blow of losing Ballack for the tournament and believes that Khedira is the perfect choice to partner Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger in the heart of Germany’s midfield.

“It can be assumed that Khedira is the number-one candidate for this position,” Loew told Bild.

“He has a great deal of potential and is a player who has already been given a lot of responsibility at Stuttgart.

“He also shows that he has matured.”

Khedira is a former Under-21 captain and Loew believes he can slot into the team without the Germans having to alter their formation.

“I expect other players to take over accordingly,” Loew explained. “You have got to demand that.

“Bastian Schweinsteiger will have even more responsibility, for example, and also Philipp Lahm, Miroslav Klose and Per Mertesacker have got to exceed themselves.

“It is often the case that others step forward when a leading player drops out and this could also be the chance for other players.

“We need a reaction like that ahead of the World Cup.”

Loew has yet to answer the question as to who will take Ballack’s armband, although he has been thinking about that.

“Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger are obviously candidates, but so too is Miro Klose – he has played the most international games,” revealed Loew.

Whoever leads the team onto the field will be doing so with the usual expectations of a nation which has won the title three times.

However, Loew is not eyeing the cup this time, especially with Ballack ruled out.

“That is why we are not talking about the World Cup title,” he said.

“We have set ourselves the goal of playing a good World Cup and there is no point in building up the pressure by setting targets.

“Our first stage will be the group phase, which is going to be hard enough.”

Germany kick-off their campaign against Australia (8/15 Germany 11/4 draw 5/1 Australia – match betting) and also face Serbia and Ghana in the group.

One crucial decision Loew has yet to make is who will replace Rene Adler in goal – the German coach looks set to wait until the end of the second training camp before revealing his choice.

However, the players have already been given training equipment with a dedicated squad number and Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has been confirmed as the number one.

Werder Bremen’s Tim Wiese has the number 12 and Bayern’s Hans-Jorg Butt is number 23.

However, Germany manager Oliver Bierhoff said: “The numbers don’t give any indication at all about any ranking list.”

Three players must still be trimmed from Low’s current 26-man squad before Germany jet out to South Africa on 6 June.

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Premier League leaders Chelsea will win a first domestic crown since 2006 if they beat Roberto Martinez’s Wigan – regardless of how the defending champions do against already-safe Stoke at Old Trafford (1/10 Chelsea 7/1 draw 20/1 Wigan – match betting).

Martinez has toed the party line by insisting his players will play for professional pride and refuse to roll over.

However, scratch below the surface and the omens do not look good for Latics.

They have lost their last seven top-flight matches in London, including a 9-1 hammering at Tottenham and 4-0 thrashing from Arsenal earlier this season.

United fans can take heart from the fact that Wigan have already beaten Chelsea this season and they effectively ended Arsenal’s title challenge three weeks ago when they appeared doomed.

But all the evidence suggests Chelsea should have too much to avoid a coupon buster against the visitors.

Carlo Ancelotti, twice a winner of the European Cup as a player and manager, only managed one Scudetto in a trophy-laden spell with his former club AC Milan.

But the experienced Italian remains on course for both the Premier League title and FA Cup.

Ancelotti has called for full concentration and demanded his players keep a lid on their emotions.

He said: “We have to play one more game, though, and nothing is decided yet. But we have a great opportunity and a great possibility because the team is fit, in good condition and has fantastic motivation for this game.”

“We have to be ready, but we have to play for 90 minutes. We come to play this game, to try our best. They have a very good team and beat us earlier in the season, so we have to pay attention,” he added.

Ricardo Carvalho, Jose Bosingwa, Michael Essien and John Mikel Obi, who will miss the FA Cup final against Portsmouth after knee surgery, will sit out the final game of the season.

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