England all-time top goalscorer Wayne Rooney will not be in the starting eleven at the start of Friday's friendly match against Spain in Alicante as boss Roy Hodgson looks to find some alternatives for his team. The Manchester United striker will play in the next friendly match though, against France at Wembley on Tuesday. Current Premier League top scorer Jamie Vardy is recovering from an injury and will most likely miss the match against Spain.
Chelsea forward Diego Costa will probably play for Spain and look to improve his scoring tally after just one goal in nine matches for his adoptive nation. David Silva and Isco will miss out through injury, giving Nolito and Juan Mata more chances to play. Without Rooney, England have only Harry Kane as a striker. Hodgson said: "Wayne's with me because he's the captain of our team, he's the most important figure as a result, but he actually won't start the game. That's for the very simple reason that we're looking at various combinations and it will be good for me to see how various combinations are developing. At the front we've got Wayne and Jamie, we've got Harry and Ross Barkley, there are combinations there that interest me."
England have not lost in 17 months, they last tasted defeat at the 2014 World Cup. They have had a spotless Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, with ten wins out of ten matches. Spain have won the last two European Championships but they did lose one match in qualifying, against Slovakia. They have also lost to France, Germany and Holland in friendly matches.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Spain win - 1.72 Draw - 3.50 England win - 5.00
Alexa Alexa 8 years ago
Friendly matches are invented for this reason.All the coaches likes to experiment in this situations,it is perfect chance to try someone who has not had too much minutes in the past.This is the main reason why England lost to Spain.Spain was better team,but Three Lions also had some chances to score.
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sharpe 8 years ago
I think this rest will be much needed for Rooney because he barely miss a game of United and England since the start and we not even at the midway of the season. It was a good test for England against top team like Spain, two late goals after the 70th minute but not the result is the more important thing here but maybe...
I think this rest will be much needed for Rooney because he barely miss a game of United and England since the start and we not even at the midway of the season. It was a good test for England against top team like Spain, two late goals after the 70th minute but not the result is the more important thing here but maybe the England's performance.
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Savini7 8 years ago
I expect that this is gonna be hard match, with no too many goals. England, without Rooney in atack is not very dangerous. On the other side, spanish defenders are great players and because of that, I think that Spain will win this match. Anyway, this will be great and interesting derby.
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nik92 8 years ago
This has always been a game that attracts a lot of attention, whether friendly or competitive, play two great nations, England and Spain. The two strongest leagues in the world, I give a slight advantage over me to Spain because they play better. The English style of play was lost and because of that they can not do anything...
This has always been a game that attracts a lot of attention, whether friendly or competitive, play two great nations, England and Spain. The two strongest leagues in the world, I give a slight advantage over me to Spain because they play better. The English style of play was lost and because of that they can not do anything at major events.
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GREGJO 8 years ago
Spain are in good form and at home they should win against England. England will be without the services of Rooney and I think this is a big loss for them. Yes, he is not a prolific goalscorer at nowadays but he's a very experienced player who can assist or score goals as well. England have a strong defense so I think they...
Spain are in good form and at home they should win against England. England will be without the services of Rooney and I think this is a big loss for them. Yes, he is not a prolific goalscorer at nowadays but he's a very experienced player who can assist or score goals as well. England have a strong defense so I think they won't concede too much goals, so my prediction is 2-0 for Spain.
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