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Welbeck ban means England liable to draw World Cup qualifier in Ukraine

| 10.09.2013

Although his two goals helped swat aside Moldova at Wembley, it was the yellow card that Danny Welbeck received for supposedly kicking the ball away that was deemed the biggest talking point.

The reason being that Welbeck is now banned from what is likely to be the crunchiest of crunch Group H qualifiers away in the Ukraine, which England are marginal favourites at 13/10 to win.

With Wayne Rooney already out and Daniel Sturridge unlikely to be fully fit even if he does start, Welbeck’s loss is a blow, but at least England historically gain positive results when the Manchester United striker is missing.

They have not lost any of the last 16 internationals that Welbeck has not featured in, dating back to the 2-1 Wembley reverse to France in 2010, while they have not been beaten away at all since he was first called up.

It is 2/1 that this run ends here with Ukraine taking control of Group H by beating England.

The slight worry is that England are winless in their last four without Welbeck, which have all ended in draws with Ukraine, Poland, Ireland and Brazil.

In this instance, a draw will not be the worst English result as it will maintain their single-point advantage over their chief group adversaries, meaning that qualification would remain in their own hands with home fixtures upcoming with Montenegro and Poland.

Given the Welbeck statistic, a draw between England and Ukraine has some enhanced appeal at 9/4 and it could be significant that the two away fixtures he has missed has seen England concede the last goal of the match.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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Author

Craig Kemp

Craig has written for Ladbrokes since the 2010 World Cup, having previously gained a Media & Sports Journalism degree and contributed to publications including the Racing Post. His main areas of interest are horse racing and UFC, but he is also an avid X Factor gambler and likes nothing more than indulging in a spot of Hip Hop Karaoke.