Tough night in store for England against red-hot Chile

Roy Hodgson cuts a relaxed figure ahead of the Wembley friendly against Chile, after the veteran coach secured England’s qualification for the 2014 World Cup in October.

The Three Lions coach can afford to experiment ahead of next summer’s tournament, but a spate of injury withdrawals have forced changes upon Hodgson for the clash with the South Americans.

Chile will also be travelling to Brazil in June after qualifying comfortably from their section and recent form suggests they will provide a tough test for Hodgson’s boys.

Chile double chance @ 5/6

La Roja finished just four points behind World Cup second-favourites Argentina and two points behind Colombia to take the third automatic qualifying place in the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) section of 2014 World Cup qualifying.

Jorge Sampaoli’s side have not lost since going down 1-0 in Peru last March and have won six of their nine games since, which includes victories against fourth and fifth-placed South Americans Ecuador and Uruguay.

However, three draws during that run may be more indicative of their form coming into this game as Chile have shared the spoils against Brazil, Spain and Colombia in the last seven months and all of those matches were on the road.

With England likely to field a number of debutants at Wembley, where they have been far from scintillating in recent friendlies against Republic of Ireland and Scotland, the team FIFA rank as 12th-best in the world can frustrate the Three Lions by claiming at least a draw.       

Alexis Sanchez to score the first goal @ 10/1

The Barcelona forward had a few nice things to say about England’s Wayne Rooney ahead of this match, but Sanchez roundly dismissed his host’s chances in Brazil next summer, claiming England players are pampered from a young age and too soft.

He may be risking the wrath of the England faithful in north-west London, but the 24-year-old is a class act and can silence the Wembley crowd by breaking the deadlock here.