England vs Brazil preview

February 4, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Brazil vs EnglandAll eyes will be on Wembley come Wednesday evening, with two of world’s strongest sides set to contest in a high-profile friendly.

England will see this match as a perfect opportunity to make amends for the 4-2 defeat to Sweden achieved in their previous warm-up game, although beating mighty Brazil will be no easy task.

Roy Hodgson did his best to name the strongest squad possible, but he has already stayed without two star players.

Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe both had to withdraw because of injury, with Daniel Sturridge almost certainly set to follow.

Aaron Lennon returns to international fold thanks to some scintillating displays for Tottenham, while Chris Smalling is also back.

Jack Wilshire should start after proving his fitness in the Premier League, while it appears Leighton Baines will be preferred to Ashley Cole.

England clearly face a tough task against the 2014 World Cup hosts, but William Hill has them at 3.20 (11/5) to defeat their more illustrious opponents.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Hart – Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines – Walcott, Gerrard, Wilshire, Milner – Welbeck, Rooney.

With Mano Menezes paying the price for some under-par showings at the 2012 Summer Olympics, national team chiefs decided to play it safe and appointed Luiz Felipe Scolari as his successor.

The friendly against England will be his first match upon taking over the reigns, so no doubt the former Chelsea boss will be hoping to do well against the Three Lions.

His first squad selection suggests that the players will be picked solely on current form, which has seen Dante, Filipe Luis, Leandro Castan and Hernanes all receive call-ups.

The biggest news, however, is the return of Ronaldinho, the forward who is now plying his trade at Atletico Mineiro.

With Neymar, Fred Hulk, Lucas Moura and Luis Fabiano the other attacking options, one could be tempted into backing the Seleccao at odds of 2.40 (7/5) offered at Stan James.

Lazio star midfielder Hernanes has been ruled out through injury, but there are no other selection worries at the moment.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Julio Cesar – Alves, Luiz, Dante, Filipe Luis – Ramires, Paulinho – Neymar, Ronaldinho, Hulk – Luis Fabiano.

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