England v Ukraine: Great price on Lampard to score first at Wembley
Published:England will take an early stranglehold of Group H at Wembley if they can topple Ukraine; one of their biggest rivals for World Cup 2014 qualification.
A price of 2/5 suggests that this is easily achievable, yet the goalscorer markets are where the best value is to be had.
Frank Lampard was twice on target in the Three Lions’ massacring of Moldova – his first breaking the deadlock after just three minutes.
This was the Chelsea stalwart’s fifth goal in six starts in an England shirt and three of these were to open the scoring. Ladbrokes have him marked up at 6/1 to do the same again against the Ukrainians.
Danny Welbeck netted the winner in three of Roy Hodgson’s first five matches in charge and, as he will be starting the match on the bench, he is 7/2 to come on and make an impact with the final goal.
An appearance for shock inclusion Raheem Sterling seems highly unlikely – his call-up more about getting a feel for the international scene than anything else – yet he is priced at 4/1 for to have a fairytale start and get on the scoresheet at any time.
With players seemingly queuing up to net for England, the source of Ukraine’s goals is difficult to determine since the retirement of legendary front man Andrei Shevchenko.
The former Milan and Chelsea man was the last player to score for Oleh Blokhin’s side in their 2-1 win over Sweden at the Euros and they’ve gone on a three-game goal drought since.
Prior to this match, Oleg Gusev was enjoying a rich vein of form in Ukrainian yellow, notching four times in three consecutive games and his runs from midfield could be the biggest threat to the England back line here.
Gusev could be a good outside punt to open the scoring at Wembley with a price of 16/1 a touch on the generous side for a goal-getting midfield player.
However, with records suggesting goals will be at premium in this World Cup qualifier, perhaps the safest bet of the night could be 5/6 to see the total goals mark remain below 2.5.
All odds and markets are correct as of publication
