JUN 5: MILESEY’S TOP TIPS

Uruguay v France 20:00

Despite boasting a squad peppered with players plying their trades in Europe's best leagues, Liverpool's Luis Suarez among them, La Celeste have been busy writing themselves out of qualifying contention for next year's World Cup in neighbouring Brazil.

Uruguay are enveloped in a cloud at present, only winning twice in their last 13 outings across the board.

France's own form has been a little patchy, though defeats to Germany and Spain in recent times are excusable.

With neither side finding the net with any degree of prolificity in recent times and going on the stalemate they produced in their last encounter last August, a goal-fest feels unlikely.

France do however prosper in away international friendlies. Les Bleus are unbeaten away from French soil since August 2010 on the international scene (ignoring a neutral game with Spain at Euro 2012), beating England, Germany and most recently Italy in that run.

• Back France to beat Uruguay @ 12/5 bet365

ENGLAND U21 v Italy u21 19:30

England get their Under 21 European Championships campaign underway on Wednesday night as they take on Italy at Bloomfield in Tel Aviv, Israel (Sky Sports 2, 7.30pm). These two teams are the giants of Group A, which includes tournament hosts Israel and Norway, and both sides will be keen to avoid defeat in this opening fixture.

They have met 12 times at under-21 level in the past, winning four games each, and it is expected to be a tight affair this week. Stuart Pearce's England have been in fine form heading into the tournament and they can be backed at 21/10 in the match odds with William Hill, while Italy are marginal 7/5 favourites and the draw can be backed at a tempting 21/10.

Neither side would be too disappointed with a draw in this first match as a point-apiece would leave them well positioned to qualify for the semi-finals. The top-two teams from each group go through to the last-four and England will be looking to make sure they reach the latter stages in what is their fourth successive appearance at the European Championship finals.

Pearce saw his side finish runners up in 2009 but they failed to get out of the group stages in 2011 and a big improvement will be needed. They could hardly have done anymore in qualifying for this summer's competition in Israel as they won Group 8 by winning seven of their eight matches, while scoring 24 goals and conceding only three. They then beat Serbia 2-0 on aggregate in the play-offs as they enhanced their impressive defensive record.

England have kept nine successive clean sheets (including friendly matches) and it is no surprise to see that this week's game is 7/10 odds on to involve under 2.5 goals. England also boast a threat going forward and Wilfried Zaha will be full of confidence after his explosive Championship play-off displays helped Crystal Palace reach the Premier League. Zaha is off to Manchester United this summer and he will be keen to impress, with Hills going 8/1 that he scores first.

Italy also boast a significant goal threat though and they are one of the pre-tournament favourites to win this competition for a sixth time. They qualified for this year's finals by winning Group 7, winning six and losing only one of their eight games, while they scored 27 goals and conceded eight. They then beat Sweden 4-2 on aggregate in the play-offs and Ciro Immobile was the hero.

Immobile grabbed a couple of goals as he took his tally to seven goals in 12 appearances for the under-21's. The Genoa striker has endured a tough season in Serie A with his club side but he continues to thrive on the international stage and he is 11/2 joint-favourite to score first, along with Roma starlet Mattia Destro.

Liverpool's Fabio Borini is also well fancied to open the scoring, despite only scoring one Premier League goal last term, and he is available at 6/1 ahead of a potential meeting with several of his English club mates. The concern for Italy will be their poor disciplinary record though as their last five qualifiers involved four red cards, with Hills going 5/2 for a red card to be shown in Wednesday's match, while they offer 19/10 for Italy to receive over three cards.

There is the potential for the match in Tel Aviv to be a spicy one as neither side will want to give an inch in this opening fixture. Defeat for either would leave them playing catch-up in the group stages and it wouldn't be a surprise to see both teams settle for a draw, with the correct score of 1-1 currently available at 6/1.

• Draw @ 21/10 with WilliamHill.
• Wilfried Zaha to score first @ 8/1 with WilliamHill.

ENGLAND V New Zealand 3rd ODI 13:30

England and New Zealand's preparations for the upcoming Champions Trophy conclude on Wednesday as they meet in the third and final match of their ODI Series at Trent Bridge (Sky Sports 1, 1.30pm). New Zealand have had by far the better of the series so far as they sealed a 2-0 victory with a resounding win at the Rose Bowl over the weekend and they will be full of confidence.

In stark contrast, Champions Trophy hosts England have been in dire form as they shave failed to adapt to the one-day arena and they are struggling to justify their tag as one of the ‘favourites' for the upcoming 50-over competition. They have been comprehensively outplayed by New Zealand over the weekend as they lost by 5 wickets at Lord's on Friday before a crushing 86-run loss in Southampton on Sunday handed them their first ODI series defeat on home soil since 2009.

Alastair Cook will be extremely worried about the set up of his side but his team are 8/13 odds on favourites for Wednesday's match at Trent Bridge, while New Zealand can be backed at 5/4 with Ladbrokes. It seems remarkable to think that England could be considered favourites after the mauling they have suffered so far and Cook will be tempted to ring the changes for this final match of the one-day series.

The make-up of his bowling attack will be causing him a massive headache as Steven Finn and Stuart Broad are out injured and doubtful for the Champions Trophy, while their replacements have been absolutely abysmal. Jade Dernbach's 10 overs went for 87 runs on Sunday as he posted the fourth most expensive figures by an English bowler in ODI history, while only James Anderson can emerge with any credit and he is 5/2 to be top England bowler on Wednesday.

Trent Bridge does tend to offer plenty of assistance to fast bowlers and the fact this week's match is a day/night affair ensures that the toss could be crucial. The team batting second under lights might struggle with the swinging ball and it could be worth waiting for the toss before placing your bet on the match winner.

If England are to win this dead rubber then they will need to improve with the bat too and Alastair Cook is 11/4 to lead from the front and be his team's top run scorer. They be tempted to call up Jonny Bairstow, who impressed with a couple of sprightly knocks during the recent ODI series, and he is 8/1 to be top batsman with Ladbrokes Bookmakers, who are offering a money back special on pre-match bets if Joe Root is top England run scorer.

Root played well for a time in a partnership with Jonathan Trott on Sunday and it was only Trott who emerged with any credit from the match. His unbeaten hundred proved to be in vain as New Zealand's Martin Guptill had well and truly taken the match away from England earlier in the day.

Guptill scored 189 off 155 balls at the Rose Bowl as he hit the highest ever ODI score by a New Zealand batsman, just days after his unbeaten 103 at Lord's. Guptill is in great nick and he is 3/1 to be top New Zealand batsman, although his opening partners continue to struggle. Luke Ronchi continued his poor form at the Rose Bowl and New Zealand's last seven ODI's have seen them record a highest partnership of 12 runs, with the 5/6 on offer for New Zealand's first wicket to fall with under 20.5 runs on the board looking like a decent bet.

Ross Taylor has had to pick up the slack after the fall of an early wicket in recent times and he has looked in fine touch with scores of 60 and 54 in the two ODI's on English soil so far. Taylor is a best price 7/2 to be top New Zealand batsman on Wednesday as the Black Caps look to complete a perfect build up for the Champions Trophy, which starts on Thursday.

• Back New Zealand to WIN @ 5/4 Paddypower

WESTERN FORCE V BRITISH and IRISH LIONS 11:00

PERTH, Australia – Western Force coach Michael Foley has blamed a tight schedule for having to leave out regular starting players from his squad to face the British and Irish Lions on Wednesday night.

The Lions thrashed the Barbarians 59-8 on Saturday in Hong Kong and have an all-new starting XV for the second of their 10 matches on tour, with 34-year-old Ireland centre Brian O'Driscoll — who has played 131 tests and is on his fourth Lions tour — leading the team against Western Force.

The Force has an important Super Rugby clash against the New South Wales Waratahs on Sunday, forcing Foley to find a balance in his selections.

His squad includes six players with test experience and will be led by backrower Matt Hodgson.

The Lions face Australia in three tests starting June 22 and have warmup matches against the Force, Queensland Reds, New South Wales Waratahs, ACT Brumbies and a ‘combined country' team comprising players born in regional Australia before then. The Lions haven't won a series since 1997 in South Africa, losing 2-1 to Australia in 2001, 3-0 to New Zealand in 2005 and 2-1 to the Springboks in 2009.

• Back British & Irish LIONS -38.0 @ 1/1 BET365

Top Treble

• NEW ZEALAND TO WIN @ 5/4
• BRITISH & IRISH LIONS -38.0 @ 1/1
• FRANCE to beat Uruguay @ 12/5

Super Single

• Wilfried Zaha to score first @ 8/1 with WilliamHill.

Milesey

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