England set to give minnows San Marino a spanking

Benjamin Franklin said that death and taxes were the only two things certain in life, but you can add England beating San Marino in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier against San Marino at Wembley to that list (7.45pm KO, Thursday, October 9th, Live on ITV1).

San Marino have competed in qualifying for every European Championship and World Cup, but have never won a match in either competition.

They have only one victory in their history, beating Liechtenstein 1–0 in a friendly on April 24th 2004.

When they played England in the qualifying stages of the 2014 World Cup, Roy Hodgson’s men won 8-0 away and 5-0 at home.

It’s therefore not surprising that the Three Lions are 1/100 with Coral to hand out another drubbing to a side ranked the joint lowest, with Bhutan, in the FIFA world rankings.

England will win by a big score and do so to nil, so it’s the former that throws up the first betting opportunity in this game.

They have averaged 6.25 goals in four encounters with San Marino, so over 5.5 looks a solid bet at the 1/2 on offer with Coral.

The other bet that looks cracking value is over 12 corners at 4/5, as in their two recent meetings with San Marino, England’s total were 16 away and 17 at home.

In the first goalscorer market it’s no surprise that in the in-form Danny Welbeck and captain Wayne Rooney head the betting at 2/1.

Slight preference is for Rooney who will be chomping at the bit to make an impression in this game given that he is currently suspended for the next two games in the Premier League following his red card in United’s victory over West Ham.

In the correct score market, I am going to suggest split stakes on England winning 6-0 or 7-0, at 6/1 and 8/1 respectively with Coral.

Best bets:
Over 5.5 goals – 1/2
Over 12 corners – 4/5
Rooney first goalscorer – 2/1
England to win 6-0 – 6/1
England to win 7-0 – 8/1