Trading places

Sky Bet's Jamie Casey reveals where the betting money's going on England's World Cup squad.

Although domestic disruption is generally met with a mixed response, the international break at least provides a good opportunity to bet. That's precisely how Sky Bet's customers have seen it anyway, with a wave of wagers crashing into our England World Cup Specials since the weekend. The most popular market is proving to be who will make the final 23-man squad for Brazil, with England having already wrapped up automatic qualification. Southampton's Adam Lallana has been the subject of increased interest from punters following his excellent display against Hull on Saturday, justifying his call up earlier this month. The 25-year-old playmaker was 8/1 to make Roy Hodgson's final squad before his latest performance, but has since been backed in to 3/1, having been as long as 20/1 last month. His club team-mate Rickie Lambert is given a better chance of making the cut, though, as he is currently 11/8 having already made an impact with two goals in three internationals. Meanwhile, fellow Saint Jay Rodriguez is now 6/1 to make the grade having also been given a call up - he was 25/1 to be on the plane before the latest squad was announced on November 7. Elsewhere, Jordan Henderson received a recall but, despite a string of fine performances for Liverpool this season, punters are not convinced he'll last the pace throughout the entire campaign. He remains relatively unmoved at 3/1 to be a part of the 23-man squad with little backing received, while his club team-mate Raheem Sterling is now an 8/1 outsider having started the calendar year odds-on (4/6). Also on the drift is Everton's on-loan midfielder Gareth Barry, who began the campaign a 2/1 chance to be a part of Hodgson's plans, only to drift out to 5/1 during his time in a Toffees shirt. He has been outshone by his new midfield team-mate Ross Barkley, who is now odds-on to make the cut at 10/11 having been an 8/1 outsider in August. One of the other biggest movements since the start of the season has been West Ham's Ravel Morrison, who was a 12/1 chance before a ball had been kicked this term but he's now played his way into a position of 7/2, with significant support from the punters making him one of the most-backed outsiders. There seems to be no doubt over whether Andros Townsend will head with his price now 4/11 and the bookmakers give him a good chance of making the starting XI for England's first group game in Brazil at 6/4. For all his poor form, Joe Hart remains 1/6 to start between the sticks come June next year, with the draw for the group stages to take place on December 6. Celtic's Fraser Forster is deemed his closest contender for the number one jersey at 11/2. Hodgson's attack would appear to be nailed on already, with trio Wayne Rooney (1/8), Danny Welbeck (4/7) and Daniel Sturridge (1/5) all odds-on to spearhead the frontline in his first line-up. Starts aren't so certain in midfield, where Michael Carrick is seemingly the value bet at odds-against (5/4) to start the first game, having made a plausible claim to partner captain Steven Gerrard (1/8) in the centre towards the end of the qualifying campaign.