Harry Maguire is ODDS-ON to start England’s World Cup opener in Qatar despite being booed
HARRY MAGUIRE is still ODDS-ON to start England’s game at the World Cup – despite being booed by the Three Lions faithful at Wembley.
Gareth Southgate, Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson have all jumped to defend the Manchester United star by saying his reception during their 3-0 win over the Ivory Coast was unacceptable.
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Betfair have Maguire priced at 4/9 to keep his spot World Cup in team for their opener in Qatar.
The only defender at a shorter price to start than him at this stage is Man City’s John Stones (3/10).
Betfair Spokesperson, Sam Rosbottom said: “Despite being booed by sections of the England fans at Wembley on Tuesday evening, Harry Maguire remains odds-on at 4/9 to start the Three Lions first match at the Qatar World Cup.
“Manager Gareth Southgate and his teammates have been keen to point out his performances in an England shirt, which is a big reason why he is heavily favoured.
“John Stones is the most likely defender to start at 3/10, and looking at who could challenge Maguire for a starting spot, Arsenal’s Ben White is currently 9/4 to start the first World Cup game, while Tyrone Mings is 110/1.”
Defender's to start England's first match at the World Cup - Betfair odds
- John Stones 3/10
- Harry Maguire 4/9
- Luke Shaw 4/5
- Trent Alexander-Arnold Evens
- Reece James 5/4
- Ben White 9/4
- Kyle Walker 5/2
- Ben Chilwell 11/4
- Tyrick Mitchell 7/1
- Kieran Trippier 15/2
- Tyrone Mings 10/1
- Conor Coady 12/1
- Marc Guehi 12/1
- Fikayo Tomori 14/1
- Dan Burn 16/1
- Eric Dier 20/1
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Southgate branded the booing of Maguire “an absolute joke”.
He said: “The reception was a joke, an absolute joke.
“I don’t know how it benefits anybody. We’re either all in it together or we’re not.
“I imagine if you asked a few of them why they did it they probably wouldn’t even be able to answer. It’s mob mentality. One end of the ground you have a hardcore group trying to get his name sung – it wasn’t everybody.
“Players will look at that and think, that could be me. It makes players not want to come. That happened with John Barnes here, that happened with Ashley Cole a couple of times, it happened with Raheem, now Harry.
“We need Harry to do well. We aren’t going to win a World Cup with a load of players with three or four caps. That’s never happened in the history of the game.”
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