England vs Kazakhstan Preview/Prediction

It’s looking increasingly possible that Capello is going to - NOOOOOO!!! - give Gerrard and Lampard one more go together in central midfield.

Seriously.

The thinking seems to be that if they can’t do it against Kazakhstan then they can’t do it against anyone. I’m sick of arguing about this, and am going to give in to optimism instead.

Maybe Capello can make them play together. If so, then he deserves an instant knighthood. Arise, Sir Fabio.

Here’s my predicted starting lineup:

– — – — – James — – — – –
Johnson - Brown - Ferdinand - A Cole
Walcott - Lampard - Gerrard - Barry
– — – — Rooney– — – — – —
– — – — – –Heskey– — – –

We could equally see Barry in central mid and Gerrard on the left. And we might even see Brown at right back and either Lescott or Upson partnering Rio Ferdinand. But I’m very excited about seeing Heskey and Rooney paired up again. England need a big man up front (even a big softy like Heskey - seriously the guy’s way too nice) and Rooney playing in that space behind.

For all the expectation after the 4-1 win over Croatia, I’m predicting nothing more than a respectable win. Let’s say 3-0.

That said, we quite literally don’t know what we’re up against here. Capello sent some of his scouts to watch Kazakhstan play in September, but coach Arno Pijpers has since been sent packing and new caretaker boss Bernd Storck (German fella) has dropped an incredible 17 players from that last squad.

According to Capello:

“I only know four players. They have moved a lot of players from the Under-21s and I have one video.

“It’s a new manager and squad. But it is impossible to change style totally.”

Which means we’ll either face a revitalized youthful Kazakhstan, or an inexperienced and scared Kazakhstan.

Arguably more important to us is the game in Kharkiv, where Ukraine are hosting Croatia. If Ukraine take three points then we can start thinking about them as our real competitors for World Cup 2010 qualification.