England’s desperate performance against Japan has seen them drift in the World Cup betting and the UK bookmakers will be cheering them at the World Cup, unless they get to the final, in which case a first win in 44 years for the Three Lions would represent heavy losses. But they needn’t be too worried about that. England should be far longer than 7/1. In fact, the stat men say they should be longer than France, who are 20/1 with some layers, but the figures are skewed because of the thousands of blinkered Englishmen placing the patriotic bet. Weirdly, the bookmakers need England to stay in the tournament for as long as possible – just not to win the trophy. Again, don’t hold your breath. England will be lucky to reach the last four – especially if Make Emile Of It Heskey makes the squad today. Read more.