After Fabio Capello led his team to qualification for Euro 2012 on Friday, it’s his assistant Stuart Pearce’s turn on Monday as his under-21s travel to Oslo to face their Norwegian counterparts (England 7/10 to win).
The last time the two teams met was in the summer when England came out 2-0 victors in Southampton as they prepared for their ill-fated Euro 2011 campaign and they’ll be looking for a similar result this time around.
Pearce’s youngsters will go into the game in fine spirits after their superb 3-0 win in Iceland on Thursday and know an away victory in Norway could go a long way to them qualifying for the European Championships to be held in Israel in 2013.
The star of the show last time out was undoubtedly Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who after a good start to his Emirates career netted a hat-trick to seal the victory. Much is expected of the youngster who is still only 18 and he’ll be looking to make a big impact once again after it was mooted he could be called-up to the full squad if he continues to impress.
The one downside of England’s win on Thursday was the number of injuries picked-up and the likes of Martin Kelly and Nathan Delfouneso have all been ruled out of Monday’s clash.
However, this only means another player will get a chance and it’s more than likely that West Brom youngster Craig Dawson will be drafted into the centre of defence in Kelly’s absence and he’ll be looking to make a big impact after being left on the bench in Reykjavik. Dawson is a powerful player so look out for him in the air, especially from set pieces.
However, Norway (16/5 to win) have more than enough ability to trouble the Young Lions and will be excited about the prospect of causing what would be a major shock.
Pivotal to them will be Manchester United youngster Joshua King, who is currently on loan at German side Borussia Mönchengladbach. King is certainly one to look out for and his pace and movement can cause even the best defences problems.
Another man to look out for is Celtic defender Thomas Rogne who many believe will go on to be one of Europe’s top centre-backs. Tall and elegant, Rogne makes defending look easy and the England forwards will certainly have trouble getting past him.
Another thing to mention is the pitch. Monday’s clash will be the first time England have played on an artificial 4G pitch and this could cause them a number of problems. The slickness of the surface could take them a while to adjust to which may let the Norwegians in early on and could present them with an uphill challenge (Norway 13/2 to be leading at half-time and go onto win).
The game has all the ingredients of a classic but I feel that England’s greater quality should just see them shade it but it’ll be tight (England 5/1 to win 1-0).
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