England 1-1 Ireland - Int. Friendly 2013 Statistical Preview

With so many injured players and withdrawals from the squad, Roy Hodgson has a somewhat depleted squad for the friendlies against Ireland and Brazil this week.
With only 3 fit central midfielders, we could see Carrick, Rodwell and Lampard all lineup from the start, though with a game in Rio de Janeiro only 4 days later, one of them could be rested.
Another option would be to play Milner centrally in a 4-3-3 formation, with Sturridge, Welbeck or Oxlade-Chamberlain playing on the left of the front 3.

Paul Green had to withdraw from the squad, with Stephen Quinn called up to replace the Leeds midfielder.
Ciaran Clark, Anthony Pilkington and Kevin Doyle are all unavailable through injury for Giovanni Trapattoni's side.
Robbie Keane will play after scoring a hat-trick in La Galaxy's 4-0 win over Seattle Sounders on Monday night.

Prediction

Yet more seemingly unnecessary international friendlies are upon us, with England hosting local rivals Ireland at Wembley in the sides' first meeting since 1995.
Neither squad is at its strongest, while neither manager has much in the way of new options to test out. However, England will be keen to win both of their upcoming friendlies to boost confidence ahead of 4 must-win remaining games in their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Ireland will hope to get one over England on their stomping ground, but are unlikely to have the quality to do so. England friendlies at Wembley are usually drab affairs, and the home side should just edge this one.

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