With the Premier League still on hold, internationals remain in the spotlight this midweek. The extra round of friendly games comes across Monday and Tuesday, with domestic football getting back to action at the weekend. Hopefully there will be enough in these midweek games to keep us going until the clubs are back for the hugely exciting Premier League run in.
Northern Ireland are carrying on their Euro 2016 preparations this week, as they face Slovenia in Belfast. England are at home to the Netherlands, who missed out on a place in France this summer. World Champions Germany face Italy on Tuesday, while Scotland are preparing for their World Cup qualifiers as they take on Denmark in Glasgow. Here we’re looking ahead to all those games, previewing each one and letting you know who we have our money on in each of these clashes.
Monday 28th March 2016
Northern Ireland v Slovenia (19:45) – Kyle Lafferty anytime scorer (2/1 with Coral)
Northern Ireland are preparing for games against Poland, Ukraine and Germany at the Euros in the summer. Their first international tournament in decades isn’t going to be easy, but NI are a side who are difficult to break down and relish being the underdog. Their excellent home form was apparent in the qualifiers, and they’re now unbeaten in seven at Windsor Park. That’s a record that almost dates back to the last World Cup qualifiers. So you’d have to say that Slovenia are in for a tough test here.
Slovenia aren’t going to the Euros, they lost out to Ukraine in the play-offs. That’s probably part of the reason that this game was set up. It will give Michael O’Neill’s men a good idea of where they stand. Once again, the Ulstermen are likely to be reliant on talismanic forward Kyle Lafferty. He hit seven goals in nine qualifiers, and they’ll need him at his best if they’re to win this one. We’re backing Lafferty to score anytime here, against a Slovenian side who do have a pretty poor defensive record on the road.
Tuesday 29th March 2016
England v Holland (19:45) – Over 1.5 England goals (5/6 with Bet365)
Following on from the game against Germany, England’s Euro 2016 warm up continues with Holland at Wembley. The Dutch aren’t preparing for the tournament, after they finished fourth in their qualifying group. They’re forced to give France a miss, before pushing for a place at the 2018 World Cup later in the year. Despite the Dutch struggling, this is still a big clash, and one that England will be desperate to win. There is still a lot of credit to be given out to a side who see off Holland, as they have quite a few talented players. They are still wondering how to balance out those good players into a team though, just like England.
Roy Hodgson will probably take more risks here, after his side have faced Germany. That game against the World Cup winners isn’t one for rotating and introducing more attacking talent. Here Hodgson has a great chance to put the likes of Dele Alli into the side, along with Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy. With such a boost to England’s front line, you’ve got to fancy them to get a few goals. They should be on the front foot for most of this one, and we’re backing them to hit over 1.5 goals, at 5/6 with Bet365.
Germany v Italy (19:45) – Both teams to score (5/6 with Betfair)
Fresh from facing England prior to this one, Germany turn their attentions to Italy on Tuesday night. The World Champions will be looking for another statement as they build up to the Euros, but can the Italians step up and cause them some problems? Antonio Conte’s side are playing as many high profile friendlies as possible as they look to get ready for the tournament in France. They are always dark horses in tournament football, no matter what kind of problems are hanging over their heads. With a few young talents coming through, Italy could be a side to watch this summer.
For this week, however, they are massive underdogs. They’ll know this is the biggest test they could possibly face. They have been building up to this one with games at Belgium and at home to Spain, so Italy should be sharp at the very least. While Germany are rightly heavy favourites, they could have a few problems here. The Italians have a good scoring record away from home, while Germany’s only home clean sheet since May 2014 was against Gibraltar. We see both sides getting on the scoresheet here, so both teams to score at 5/6 with Betfair is our bet for this clash.
Scotland v Denmark (19:45) – Scotland to win (17/10 with Sky Bet)
This game won’t grab much attention on Tuesday night. Neither are planning trips to France this summer, after they missed out on the Euros. Scotland finished a dismal fourth in their group in qualifying, despite Gordon Strachan helping to improve the team’s fortunes. They now start preparing for a tough World Cup qualifying campaign, as the Scots looks to cause a few shocks on their way to Russia in 2018. With England in their group, they’d love nothing more than to beat them to the finals. To do that, they’ll need to pick up some momentum and start developing as a group.
Luckily for them, they face a Denmark side who haven’t won in their last five away games. The Danes were knocked out in the play-offs for the Euros, and they don’t seem to be as good as recent Danish teams. You’d have to fancy the Scots to get something here, especially if Hampden Park is in full voice behind them. Their recent home record has been mixed, but if they can reproduce the performances they showed against Germany and Poland here, then we think they can get a victory. At just short of 2/1, they look like great value to take the win.