ENGLAND v ECUADOR - NO FORMALITY FOR ENGLAND
Jonathan Turner

It's not often the bookies are cheering on England but that could be the case on Sunday afternoon as punters have deserted Sven-Goran Eriksson's charges in their droves.

It's easy to forget that the Three Lions had qualified for the knockout stages after just two games and without conceding a goal, eventually finishing top of Group B courtesy of a 2-2 draw with Sweden.

For it's been the manner of their performances - all three were desperately laboured - which has stopped a patriotic plunge in its tracks.

There are question marks against every aspect of the side.

Up front is the biggest worry as they are just an injury to Wayne Rooney away from their World Cup hopes going up in smoke.

With Michael Owen now back home, Rooney is likely to play as a lone striker despite the fact he's yet to complete 90 minutes since his comeback from injury.

Peter Crouch and Theo Walcott are the only two real alternatives and the decision not to bring the likes of Jermain Defoe is looking worse by the day.

Midfield should be a major strength but with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard still yet to demonstrate they can play well together it's no surprise that Eriksson continues to tinker with his formation.

And even defensively - where England had seemed so strong - there are doubts as they've looked shaky on set-pieces all tournament and keeper Paul Robinson hasn't exactly been a calming influence.

On paper they at least look to have one of the softest last-16 ties imaginable.

For Ecuador are ranked a lowly 39th in the FIFA rankings - between Bulgaria and Norway - and the perceived wisdom was that they'd struggle away from their high-altitude Quito base where they picked up 23 of their 28 points in qualifying.

However we prefer to believe the evidence of our own eyes as they impressed us in their first two matches when they proved far too good for Poland and Costa Rica, winning 2-0 and 3-0 respectively.

It's safe to ignore their defeat by Germany in their final group match as plenty of key players were rested as they were already through by that point.

And it's also worth remembering that they beat both Argentina and Brazil at home in qualifying - and were only edged out 1-0 in both of those away fixtures.

They've got bundles of experience defensively - with Ivan Hurtado a vital man and badly missed against Germany - while up front the much-maligned Agustin Delgado and striker partner Carlos Tenorio both found the net in each of their opening two games.

It all suggests that they are capable of causing England plenty of problems and the best way to get with them is at 5/1 in the 'draw no bet' market.

Of course England might suddenly click into gear but there are far more reasons to oppose them rather than get with them - not least that the forecast suggests temperatures could be 95 degrees fahrenheit at kick-off.

England visibly wilted in the heat in their early kick-off against Paraguay and they didn't manage a goal in the second half of any of their games in the last World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

We'll also risk a small stakes wager on the aforementioned Hurtado to marshall the Ecuador defence and win the man of the match award at a juicy 33/1.

Central defenders Juanito and Marco Materazzi have both landed this award in the last few days to prove it doesn't just go to strikers and creative midfielders.

Admittedly they did both get on the scoresheet but if this turns into the attritional affair we expect then that might not need to happen here for the bet to collect.

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By Bettingzone.co.uk
Used with permission.