England/Andorra, 8.15pm, ITV1, Free Bets, Best Odds

If there is one criticism of England under Fabio Capello, it’s that they take too long to break down minnows. It took them 49 minutes to score against Andorra in Barcelona, 52 to find a way past Kazakhstan at Wembley and then 40 away to them last weekend. Andorra boss David Rodrigo plans to frustrate the Three Lions tonight, although Betfair odds of 219/1 (actually down from 239/1 earlier today) show that he’s not expected to have much success. Here are some stats from our friends at chickendinner about tonight’s game:

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» England have won their three previous meetings with Andorra without conceding a goal, scoring ten in the process.

» Andorra coach Rodrigo’s claimed that “England have always had problems when they have played against us and have been made to work hard to get the first goal.” However, they were beaten 5-0 on their last trip to Wembley in 2006 with the opening goal coming in the fifth minute from Peter Crouch.

» The minnows have lost their last 20 competitive games and their overall record in qualifying games is P58 W1 D2 L55. They’ve taken just a point from

Rubbish side to employ frustration tactics at Wembley

With an impressive six defeats from six games in World Cup Qualifying Group 6, one may expect Andorra to approach tomorrow night’s game against England with a quiet dignity.

Instead, the tiny nation with absolutely nothing to play for are going to try and frustrate the Three Lions, in the hope of turning the Wembley crowd against the home side. Coach David Rodrigo is quoted in The Ooh Ahh Daily Star:

“England have always had problems when they have played against us and have been made to work hard to get the first goal. That can sometimes make the players feel nervous.

“There is a big difference between the two teams but we have not got anything to lose and to play at Wembley is such a big motivation.

“England are the most dangerous team in the group and I am not going to change the system we employ because we are playing in London.”

The system to which he is referring is a park-the-bus 5-4-1 formation, designed to shut out England’s forwards. The Andorran’s may be a bunch of part-time no namers, but the tactic worked at Wembley in 2007 (when fans turned on Steve McClaren after waiting 54 minutes for a goal) and in last year’s qualifier (where travelling fans didn’t see a goal until substitute Joe Cole bagged the first of a brace in the 48th minute).

It may not keep England from scoring, but such a negative approach isn’t exactly setting the tie up to be a classic.