QPR midfielder Joey Barton has claimed that he expects England to beat Uruguay in the second group match at the World Cup 2014. After losing the opening match against Italy, Roy Hodgson’s men will be under pressure to perform against Oscar Tabarez’ men. As with Italy, England will be coming up against a top striker in the form of Luis Suarez. In Italy match, Mario Balotelli proved to be Italy’s catalyst towards a victory. Hodgson’s men will be aware that this is a must win match otherwise they risk elimination from the group stages.
Barton, who helped QPR win promotion back to the English Premier League, will be watching the World Cup on TV after coming nowhere near enough the team selection. In his opinion to Sky Sports, he stated that England could get a win that would keep the qualification hopes alive. This is one of the toughest with the tournament, but a youthful England team should be enough to get past and Uruguay team that is ageing. Uruguay are also likely to be without Luis Suarez at 100%. The striker is expected to be on the bench for this match after missing the Costa Rica match due to his failure to return from injury on time.
“I think they’ll go through. They had a reasonable level of performance against Italy but unfortunately were not able to win the game. But I think they will be good enough to get through this group. Obviously everyone will be focused massively on the Uruguay game, where Luis Suarez will probably start despite his recent injury. I expect him to start as they need to win the game as much as us, but I fancy them to beat Uruguay,” said the former Manchester City midfielder. Elimination from the group stages is a distinct possibility going into the match.
