by Jason Green of Predictem.com
As of May 6th the FIFA rankings have England at 8th, USA at 14th, Slovenia at 23rd, and Algeria at 31st.
England is the favorites to win Group C, but they have not done well at the last few World Cups. They always have great stars on their teams, but have not made it past the quarterfinals since back in 1990. England has a solid squad this time around with the likes the Manchester United duo of Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney and Chelsea's John Terry. The English lack creativity and control, especially against quality teams. Their goalkeeping is a concern and there are many expectations on England this summer, but will they be able to live up to them?
The USA is making their 6th straight appearance in the World Cup and luckily for them they are not in a very strong group. The Americans play great against the best teams in the world, but tend to slack off against inferior competition. However, this squad may be different, as they play as a team and are very hungry to make it out of group play. G Tim Howard of Everton is a rock in the box, but Landon Donovan has to play well and score for the USA to do well.
Slovenia is a surprise team in this World Cup and even though they are a legit team they are only making their second appearance. They have one of the best defenses in the tournament and in qualifying they only gave up 6 goals in 12 matches. Udinese's Samir Handanovic is a great goalie and he will be tough to score on. The Slovenians do not have a high-scoring offense and they will rely on counter attacks and Milivoje Novakovic of FC Koln to give them some goals. Don't look for high scoring matches when Slovenia plays, as to make it out of Group C their defense will have to carry them.
Algeria is the major underdog in Group C and this is their first World Cup appearance since 1986. Even though they are very young they are well coached and disciplined. One glaring weakness for the Algerians is that they have only won 2 away matches since 2003 and they will be in South Africa, so maybe that will help them out. Antar Yahia of VfL Bochum and Karim Ziani of VfL Wolfsburg are their only big name players and their offense has issues with a lack of a go-to striker.
Do not be surprised if the USA vs. Slovenia match is the big one, as it may play out that the winner of this match will come in second in the group and progress while the loser will go home.
Here are the odds to win the Group Stage C at Sportsbook as of May 6th.
England -300
USA +450
Slovenia +800
Algeria +1200
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