It only seems like yesterday that Brazil were being humiliated in their home World Cup and the Germans were striding to a magnificent victory but that’s all very much in the international past now, as thoughts move, with barely a break for breathe, to the 2016 Euros in France.
The expanded competition, now featuring 24 teams for the first time, means that qualification for the big nations should be easier than ever and that suits our accas nicely as there should be plenty of easy pickings. As ever we’re offering up selections at low, medium and high odds so there is an accumulator for all!
Easy Winner – 3/5 (Sky Bet)
- Finland to beat Faroe Islands (1/6) – The Faroes are one of the poorest sides around and even away from home Finland should have no problems brushing them aside. In qualifying for the 2014 World Cup the Finns won just once on the road, in Georgia, but defeat to France, an excellent 1-1 draw in Spain and a draw in Belarus all indicate they will be too good for the minnows here.
- Portugal to beat Albania (2/7) – Portugal often frustrate, with Cristiano Ronaldo failing to get the support he enjoys at Real Madrid and his teammates seeming somewhat subdued. That said, they will prove far too good on their own turf for an Albania team that is ranked 67th by FIFA (Portugal are 11th).
- Wales to beat Andorra (1/14) – Andorra are one of the weakest sides in international football and whilst Wales are hardly footballing giants, history shows that Andorra rarely do anything other than lose. They have lost every single game in qualification for their last three tournaments – enough said!
Medium Risk – 11/2 (Coral)
- Switzerland v England: both teams to score (11/10) – Switzerland showed they have some fine attacking players at the World Cup and they will be more than a match for England in their own country. The Three Lions look woeful at the back but at the other end of the pitch they always look a threat, despite not scoring as many goals in Brazil as Roy Hodgson would have liked. We think this one could end 2-2 but both to score looks great value at 11/10 here.
- Italy to beat Norway (4/5) – Italy always manage to do enough to qualify and this Norwegian squad lacks the class of years gone by, as indicated by how few of their team play in top European leagues. It might not be pretty but we expect the away side to get the job done.
- Portugal to lead Albania at half time and full time (3/4) – As said above, Portugal will be too good and we think it’s worth upping the odds by backing Portugal/Portugal in the ht/ft market.
Long Shot – 75/1 (Bet365)
- Scotland to draw with Germany (15/2) – Scotland have really improved of late and have risen to 27th in the world rankings under Gordon Strachan. Germany, of course, are a formidable outfit but the Scots will fight for everything and with a little luck they could scrape a brilliant point
- Austria to draw with Sweden (9/4) – These sides are well-matched and a draw would be no major surprise. It would represent a reasonable start to qualifying for both and is worth a punt here.
- Switzerland to beat England (7/4) – England are low on confidence and have several major problems with their team, not least the defence, the midfield and the attack! Oh, and maybe Joe Hart! On their own patch the Swiss will fancy their chances and 7/4 makes them a nice addition to this acca.