England
Even by English standards, there is much hype about Fabio Capello's team, after they qualified with relative ease. Capello has brought discipline to the team, and has also managed to shoehorn Lampard and Gerrrd into the same team. Of his 30-man squad, it will be interesting to see who makes the final 23-man squad, to see if potential wildcards such as Adam Johnson, Darren Bent and Joe Cole, along with the injury-prone Ledley King, are retained. In the group, one of the bets I'll be recommending will be for them to finish on 7 points- this would require one of the following 3 possibilities to happen:
- The USA stun a lacklustre England and claim a draw from their opening game
- Over-confident after beating USA, England take their foot off the gas and slip to a draw with Algeria
- Having already qualified after winning their first 2 games, Capello makes wholesale changes for the final game against Slovenia and a reserve side can only manage a draw
Of course, there is a chance that, should all 3 of the above happen, Capello's side could face an embarassing early exit, but that is extremely unlikely. More likely is a semi-final exit at the hands of Holland or Brazil
USA
Last year's run to the Confederations Cup final confirmed the USA's status as an emerging force in world football, with an incredibly hard-working and industrious side knocking out Spain along the way. The squad contains a number of players plying their trade at the highest level in Europe, among them established Premier League players Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey and Jonathan Spector- remember also Landon Donovan's successful loan spell at Everton earlier this season. However, their results since the Confederations Cup have been inconsistent, and after a strong showing in 2002, they then flopped at the 2006 World Cup. Still, they should get through the group, although that may be as far as they get, with their 2002 conquerors Germany potentially awaiting them in the 2nd round.
Algeria
The Desert Foxes have qualified for the first time since 1986, and coach Rabah Saadane, who led them to Mexico bck then, is in charge once again. They have some talented individuals, namely Wolfsburg's Karim Ziani and Portsmouth pair Hassan Yebda and Nadir Belhadj, but have displayed some staggering inconsistency in the last 12 months; their 1-0 playoff win over Egypt that earned them their place in South Africa last autumn was then followed by a 4-0 loss against the same nation in the African Nations earlier this year, a tournament in which they reached the semi-finals despite an early 3-0 loss to Malawi. In that match, Saadane experimented with a 3-5-2 formation, which has since been abandoned for 4-4-2, with veteran playmaker Rafik Saifi likely to play just off a lone frontman. However, it's hard to see them progressing from the group, given their inconsistency, and also due to the lack of a convincing goalkeeper
Slovenia
This nation of just 2 million people has qualified for only its 2nd World Cup, beating a much-fancied Russia side in the play-offs. Expect Matjaz Kek's side to line up in a fairly standard 4-4-2 formation, with Bochum forward Zlatko Dedic running the frontline playing off targetman Milivoje Novakovic of FC Koln. They will most likely be well-organised and able to keep hold of the ball, but lack a creative edge to help create chances for Dedic and Novakovic, and as such it's unlikely that they'll be providing too much trouble for the defences of the stronger teams
The bets for Group C:
England to win 7 points: best price 11/5 with Bodog
USA stage of elimination 2nd round: best price 13/8 with bet365
Algeria to finish bottom of Group C: best price 11/10 with expekt.com
Slovenia top goalscorer Zlatko Dedic: best price 10/3 with Skybet
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