World Cup qualifying preview: Moldova v England

England look set to rely on goals from midfield in their opening World Cup qualifier with just three strikers making the trip to Moldova.

Manager Roy Hodgson originally selected four strikers in England’s squad to play Moldova and Ukraine in their first two 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Friday and Tuesday.

But with West Ham’s Andy Carroll pulling out due to a hamstring problem and Wayne Rooney already out of contention through injury, Hodgson has just three players in his squad who have scored over 10 international goals.

Jermain Defoe is the only English striker to have reached that mark with 16 goals in 49 appearances for England, while midfielders Frank Lampard (23 from 91) and Steven Gerrard (19 from 96) are the others.

Hodgson’s two other striking options, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge, have two and zero international goals respectively.

The manager has already made it clear he will rely on Lampard, Gerrard and the former’s Chelsea team-mate John Terry as the core of his team, at least to begin with, in England’s qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

They should have few problems dealing with Moldova, who are ranked 137th in FIFA’s world standings.

Moldova have only won eight of their past 42 matches, with their most recent victory coming against San Marino in October last year and they have not scored since that game.

The small eastern European nation finished second bottom in their Euro 2012 qualifying group, while England qualified for the quarter-finals in Poland and Ukraine by winning their pool.

England played very simple football at Euro 2012 with Hodgson basing his tactics around solid organisation and defence.

Hodgson’s side eventually bowed out of the continental championships in a penalty shootout after their quarter-final with Italy remained scoreless throughout 120 minutes.

In their most recent international, a friendly rematch of that quarter-final, England overcame Italy 2-1 after going behind.

Defoe scored England’s first goal in that match and Hodgson will no doubt be hoping the diminutive Tottenham striker can have a similar impact against Moldova in Chisinau.