Patriotic punters keep the faith in England ahead of Manaus opener

Ahead of their opening World Cup match against Italy tomorrow night, England fans have been backing Roy Hodgson’s men to go all the way in Brazil, despite the side being the biggest odds ever for a major tournament, at 25-1 with bookmaker Coral. The team are 21-10 to begin with a win in Manaus, with Italy slight favourites at 13-8, and the draw 19-10, and the timing of the match could help spark a £10 million betting spree across the UK.

“England may be relative outsiders going into this World Cup, but plenty of patriotic punters have been willing to back them to go all the way, and at 25-1 our liabilities have rapidly built up, so if they did make history, the bookies would be shelling out a multi-million pound fortune next month,” said Coral’s David Stevens.

“The timing of the match in Manaus is perfect as far as we’re concerned, it’s such a high profile showdown, punters have all day to get their bets on, there is very little between the teams as far as the betting goes, and we could easily see £10 million bet across the industry,” added Stevens.

England fans will be hoping Wayne Rooney hits top form in this tournament, and the striker is 13-2 to open the scoring against the Italians, and 40-1 to emulate Gary Lineker in 1986 and be crowned top scorer, while his side are are odds-on to progress to the second round in Brazil, with Coral pricing them at 8-15 to qualify from group D, and they are 7-1 to win a penalty shoot-out at any time.

However, for those less optimistic England fans, Coral are 11-8 that they don’t get through the group stage, it’s 7-4 that Rooney fails to score, 8-1 he’s sent off at any time, 6-1 that England suffer more penalty shoot-out heartbreak, and 100-1 about the worst outcome of all, that England lose the final on penalties.

“England fans can take heart from odds that suggest their side will make it out of a tough looking group, although there are plenty of bets for those of a less hopeful nature as well. As bookmakers we hope England do progress, as the further they go the higher turnover will be, starting with this huge game against Italy, although we would begin to sweat if they got close to the final!” added Stevens.
**Match odds
21-10 England, 13-8 Italy, 19-10 Draw

**First goalscorer
11-2 Balotelli, 13-2 Rooney, Sturridge, 8 Cassano, Immobile, Insigne, Lambert, Welbeck, 9 Pirlo, 10 Cerci, Stirling, Gerrard, 12 Lallana, Lampard