Bulgaria - England

Bulgaria welcome England in one of the most interesting matches of this week’s European Championship qualifiers. The game will be played at National Stadium Vasil Levski but the home advantage is probably the only reason why the Three Lions should be afraid. Bulgaria certainly do not have the quality to spoil the party for England in Group G so my pick here is the away win at 1.57.

Bulgaria are currently lying in 4th place in the group, equal on points with Switzerland so everything but the win against England on Friday night would see them out of the game. The coach Lotar Matthaus has some serious issues with the squad as he will not be able to rely on key midfielder Chavdar Yankov whereas the start of the team Martin Petrov is still a major doubt. Bulgaria are still to score at home as they lost to Montenegro and drew against Switzerland in the previous two games at Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia.

England are joint top of Group G together with Montenegro as both teams have 11 points in their accounts. However, the decisive game will probably be the one in Montenegro later this year so the Three Lions will desperately need the three points on Friday. Head coach Fabio Capello will rely mainly on the team star Wayne Rooney upfront whose form has been really impressive since the start of the new season. Darren Bent who is likely to partner Rooney upfront missed today’s training but is expected to be fit. England won both the away trips to Switzerland and Wales and they will be full of confidence.

Moreover, they thrashed Bulgaria 4:0 in the reverse fixture and this seems like the weekend’s banker to me at 1.57.