6 days of World cup qualifiers lie ahead and we kick things off this evening with 9 games from the European sections with Paris hosting the tie of the day as an impressive France welcome a Netherlands team badly in need of a positive result with a second successive failure to qualify for a major championships now a serious possibility. Elsewhere in that section, Sweden travel to Bulgaria boasting an impressive record over their opponents and will be hopeful of collecting the 3 points that could well secure their path towards another World Cup although the Bulgarians have won 3 out of 3 at home in this qualifying campaign, including an impressive 2.0 win over the aforementioned Dutch. Comfortable home wins are certain for Belgium as they host whipping boys Gibraltar while similar outcomes can be expected in Switzerland with Andorra the visitors and in Portugal where an improving Faroes side should still succumb to the reigning European champions. Here then are today's previews with my main focus on those games in Bulgaria and in France. 19:45 France vs Netherlands - Prediction 3.1 Best Bets - France to win @8/15, France to score 2 or more @8/13 Key Facts * France have won 14 of their last 16 home fixtures * France have scored 2 goals or more in 16 of their last 18 home fixtures * Holland have scored in 9 of their last 10 away fixtures although they have failed to score in 3 of their last 7 away qualifiers Final Verdict France have to be confident of collecting the 3 points against a Netherlands side that looks a shadow of their once great teams of the 70's and 80's or even the team that reached the final of the World cup just 7 years ago. The hosts started this week at 7/10 to beat the Dutch but those odds have shrunk further to 8/15 but despite that, I am confident in backing the French to score 2 or more @4/7 and to claim the 3 points. With the French possessing so much attacking talent that they can even afford to leave out 135 million man Ousmane Dembele (Lacazette, Griezmann and Giroud will provide the firepower instead) and the Dutch struggling defensively, goals seem inevitable for Les Bleus. BTTS is possible at 19/20 with the Dutch performing somewhat better in recent friendlies and they do have a good record of scoring on the road but I'm backing the home win with 2 goals or more for a confident French team that I expect to deliver the goods. _______________________________________________________________________________________ 19:45 Bulgaria vs Sweden - Prediction 2.2 Best Bets - BTTS @ 19/20, BTTS and over 2.5 goals @13/8 Key Facts * Bulgaria have won their last 4 home fixtures, including 3 in this qualifying competition * Sweden have kept only 3 clean sheets in their last 9 away qualifiers (at Luxembourg, Liechthenstein, and Moldova) * Sweden have won 9 of their last 10 meetings with Bulgaria, keeping clean sheets in ALL 9 wins. Final Verdict A tough one to call but with Bulgaria surely needing a win, we should see a decent encounter with Sweden odds on favourties at 10/11 to collect the 3 points but the value for me lies in the BTTS pick with Bulgaria looking more than capable at home in this campaign. The Swedes have been involved in a fair number of high scoring fixtures in recent years and I have a feeling we might see a few goals shared here with a draw my predicted outcome. BTTS is priced at 19/20 and you can take a chance on BTTS and over 2.5 goals @13/8 on a smaller stakes treble or acca. Historically, the Swedes do have a tremendous record over Bulgaria with BTTS failing to show in any of those encounters but Sweden are not as strong as they once were, especially as this is a side now devoid of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and while they still possess better players than the hosts, I do expect a strong effort from Bulgaria who have shown that they are capable on their own patch, most recently in their 2.0 win over Holland so I'm going for a share of the spoils and an entertaining 2.2 draw is my final tip here. _______________________________________________________________________________________ 19:45 Hungary vs Latvia - Prediction - 2.0 Best Bets - Hungary to score 2 or more @8/15 Key Facts * Latvia have lost each of their last 7 fixtures and conceded 2 goals or more in 6 of their last 7 fixtures * Hungary have scored 2 goals or more in each of their last 4 home qualifiers Final Verdict Neither side are in contention to qualify and with Hungary suffering a humiliating 1.0 loss at Andorra in their previous qualifer, the hosts will be determied to get back on track to at least secure 3rd place in the section and they should do it against a struggling Latvia. Latvia have been desperately poor in this campaign, losing each of their last 5 qualifiers while conceding 13 goals in the process and while you wouldn't expect a home romp, the hosts should have enough to score a couple to ensure a comfortable win. _______________________________________________________________________________________ 19:45 Cyprus vs Bosnia-Herzegovina - Prediction - 0.2 Best Bets - Bosnia to win @!/2 Final Verdict Bosnia need the 3 points to keep the pressure on Belgium and Greece and while it might not be easy, they should have too much quality for a Cyprus side that don't have the best of home records. The hosts usually lose out when facing stronger opposition at home and with Bosnia winning 3.2 in Cyprus in 2015 qualifying, a repeat win is expected here with the visitors possessing far more quality throughout their side. Thursday Best Bets France to score 2 or more @8/13 -NAP France to win @4/7 Bulgaria vs Sweden - BTTS @19/20 - NB Bosnia to beat Cyprus @1/2 Hungary to score 2 or more @8/15 Other fixtures and predictions 19:45 Portugal vs Faroe Islands - Prediction 3.0 19:45 Switzerland vs Andorra - Prediction - 4.0 19:45 Greece vs Estonia - Prediction - 1.0 19:45 Belgium vs Gibraltar - Prediction - 6.0 19:45 Luxembourg vs Belarus - Prediction - 0.1 Comments are closed.
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