In what may well (or, more likely, may well not) be the biggest game of so far

There was an air of inevitability around the way England’s opener ended. Sandwiched between the violence that defined the pre- and post-game atmosphere Roy Hodgson’s side produced a sporadically lively, if clinically-lacking, performance that nevertheless saw them nab only point from a fairly ugly Russia. Eric Dier had given England the lead with a rocket of a second-half free-kick, only for Vasili Berezutski’s equaliser in the 92nd minute to return a bit of reality to the previously giddy England fans.



That draw means England, in 9 attempts, have still never won their opening game at a European Championship, even on home turf in the fabled 1996 competition. So, business as usual in that regard, then. More worrying was Hodgson’s substitution decisions; he didn’t make a change until the 78th minute, despite England looking flat, and strangely failed to bring on one of the many strikers he specifically stuffed his squad with. One imagines that, even if the starting 11 remains the same, the likes of Jaime Vardy (at a Super Mega PGM of 22-27) and Daniel Sturridge (at 24-29) will make an appearance this time around, especially if Harry Kane (at 34-40) fails to find the back of the net once again.

While England stumbled, Wales relatively soared in their first major tournament appearance since the 1958 World Cup. Gareth Bale (who else?) gave Chris Coleman’s side the lead within 10 minutes, before Slovakia’s Ondrej Duda equalised just after the hour mark. Hal Robson-Kanu then helped Wales clinch their first points at a European Championship 20 minutes later, leaving the side in the Group B driving seat heading into Thursday afternoon.



Of course Bale will be the focus for both Wales and England, with the Real Madrid maestro at a Super Mega PGM of 20-24. Yet to ignore the rest of the Welsh side, including Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey and Liverpool’s Joe Allen, is to do the country a disservice, and England will have to be careful if they don’t want to come away from Lens with their collective tail between their legs.

Our Group B index (where 1st place gets 25 points, 2nd place gets 10 and 3rd place gets 5) still suggests England will come out on top, at a spread of 16.5-18 compared to Wales’ 11-12.5, Slovakia’s 6.75-8.25 and Russia’s 3-4.5. And in terms of the game itself our traders are still fully behind Rooney and co., offering an England/Wales Goal Supremacy spread of 1-1.2 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.35-2.55.

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