Who is England’s most likely first scorer against Belarus?
World Cup Qualifier, 7.30pm, Setanta Sports 1, £10 Free Bet
Rather than just telling you why Wayne Rooney might score in Minsk, our friends at chickendinner have examined all ten likely outfield starters for England tonight and assessed each individual’s chances of scoring the opening goal:
Wayne Bridge – The left-back hasn’t scored in 21 months and his one international goal, against Iceland in 2004, was the sixth in that match.
Matthew Upson – He’s the only likely outfield starter without an international goal but his only goal in the last 22 months was an important one: West Ham’s winner against Manchester United last December.
Rio Ferdinand – Has only once managed to score in consecutive games in his career and even then only one was a first goal.
Wes Brown – Scored his first England goal at home to the Czech Republic in August but England’s right-backs rarely grab the goals – none of Gary Neville, Glen Johnson, Micah Richards, Danny Mills or Luke Young have scored more than one for their country.
Steven Gerrard – Only one of the fifteen goals that Gerrard has scored since last Christmas has been the first goal scored in that game.
Gareth Barry – Barry scored England’s first against Trinidad and Tobago in June but has never scored in a competitive international. The Aston Villa man’s last five goals for club and country have been scored away from home.
Frank Lampard – Scored first in three of England’s World Cup 2006 qualifiers and was their top scorer in that campaign. In ten of the last 23 games where England have scored, their first goal has been scored by a Chelsea player.
Theo Walcott – In England’s last two away games, the first goal has been scored by a winger. However, despite scoring the first against Croatia last month, only two of his nine goals for Arsenal have been the first goal in that match.
Emile Heskey – The Wigan forward hasn’t scored for England since May 2003 and none of his five international goals have been the opener (though four have been the final goal interestingly).
Wayne Rooney – Only four of Rooney’s seventeen England goals have been the opener and England have only gone on to win one of those four. In contrast, England have won eight of the nine games where Rooney has scored after someone else has broken the deadlock.
Who do you think will score first tonight? Let us know with a comment below and if you’re feeling confident take advantage of a free £10 bet with Paddy Power where Lampard has tempting 13/2 odds.
1 response so far
Amaechi // October 15, 2008 at 11:54 am
I think Roony will score the 1st goal for England.
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