Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles banged in the winning goal for the second week running against Stoke and his impressive displays have seen the odds plummet on him making England’s World Cup squad. Lascelles has represented England at youth level but the 23-year-old has never been called up to the senior squad. However, that may soon change if he continues to grow in confidence and contribute to the cause with vital goals. The odds have also dipped on Phil Jones making the plane to Russia 2018 after a string of strong performances for Man Utd this season. There is plenty of value to be had in this market and it is well worth exploring.
England beat Slovakia 2-1 last time out to all but secure a place in next summer’s World Cup. They have a decent squad, but one weak area is centre back. Jones and Gary Cahill got the nod in the recent internationals and that looks set to be Gareth Southgate’s first-choice pairing. It is not exactly Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell, or Tony Adams and Southgate, but it looks just about satisfactory. Cahill is Chelsea captain nowadays and is just 1/5 to make the squad. That puts him as the fifth name on the team sheet, after Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Eric Dier and Kyle Walker, according to the bookies.
Jones has gone into 8/11 with Bet365 to make the squad and that looks a great bet. He is keeping Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof out of the Man Utd team and has kept several clean sheets alongside Eric Bailly. Jose Mourinho will stand for no nonsense whatsoever at the back, so Jones’ continued place in the starting 11 is a ringing endorsement of his quality. The big caveat with Jones is that he stays fit as injuries have plagued him in recent years.
John Stones is on song at Man City and he looks a sure thing at 1/5, but the squad will probably have at least one more centre back, and that is looking really competitive Dier can drop back and cover at centre half, so that may mean there is just one more place available, and the bookies believe Everton’s Michael Keane and Leicester City’s Harry Maguire are the frontrunners. Keane has just moved to Everton for £30 million but the Toffees have been poor defensively and at 8/11 Keane does not look great value. Maguire might be a better option. The 24-year-old has impressed since moving from Hull this summer: he is a colossus at the back, surprisingly good on the ball and a threat in the opposition’s penalty box. Southgate called him up to the squad for the last two qualifiers but he did not make an appearance. He also looks a good bet at evens with Bet Victor, a good price as Sky Bet will only go to 1/2.
Smalling is 5/2 but he is sitting on the bench and Southgate will be unlikely to take someone short of match fitness to Russia. Next in line is Phil Jagielka at 5/1 but he cannot get in a struggling Everton team at the moment and has fallen out of favour with the national set up. Middlesbrough’s Ben Gibson is 4/1 with green listed bookmaker Bet365 and 6/1 with Bet Victor, but 16/1 with Sky Bet if you fancy his chances. Rob Holding is in the mix, but that seems far-fetched as he is too inexperienced.
Then we have Lascelles. He has gone all the way from 33/1 to just 12/1 with some bookmakers, although Bet Victor is offering 18/1. He is definitely the outsider, but if he keeps improving then he will be in with a shout, and those long odds could be tempting.
Away from centre back, there is plenty of value to be had on predicting which fringe players will make the plane. Danny Welbeck is another injury prone player but managers love him and if he is fit, he will be on the plane, so the 6/4 that Bet Victor is offering on the Arsenal forward looks great. It will be worth monitoring Jermain Defoe’s progress at Bournemouth this season. If the veteran forward keeps banging in
the goals then he will be a great bet at 2/1. If Danny Drinkwater breaks into the Chelsea side, then the 4/1 on him will be interesting. An even better bet could be the 2/1 Bet365 is offering on Jake Livermore, a real favourite of Southgate’s.
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