This week sees the return of the European Championship qualifiers, with countries scrambling for points ahead of the final two games of the various groups. This is make or break time for several teams, with Wales and Northern Ireland among those who are aiming to book a place in the tournament. Those two sides are close, but can they get over the line in their next game?
The first round of group matches are played from Thursday through to Sunday, and that’s when the home nations will be looking to get their places booked. England are already there, and the rest will be hoping to join them before the final day. Here we’re taking a look at the next game for all of the UK sides, with a betting tip included for each match.
Thursday 8th October 2015
Northern Ireland v Greece (19:45) – Under 1.5 goals (5/4 with Sky Bet)
Thursday night sees Northern Ireland’s final home game in this campaign, and they’ve had a fantastic run up until now. They’re currently top of their group, and they need just three more points to confirm their place at the championships next summer. To do that they’ll need to get past 2004 European champions Greece, a side who have fallen quite some way in the last few years. The Greeks are bottom of the group going into this one, which should mean this is a straightforward win, right?
Well, Michael O’Neill is without several key names here, which will make life difficult for him. Among the absentees is suspended forward Kyle Lafferty, a man who has scored over half of Northern Ireland’s goals in this campaign. The Greeks have improved of late, they may not have won a game yet, but they have picked up 0-0 draws in Romania and Hungary, who are second and third in the group. They will be looking to keep things tight against the group leaders, who won’t have much goal-scoring threat. That’s why we’re backing under 1.5 goals in this one.
Scotland v Poland (19:45) – Robert Lewandowski to score any time (13/8 with Bet365)
Scotland know defeat here would spell the end of their Euro 2016 hopes. Those hopes are already in trouble, given they are four points behind the third placed Republic of Ireland in their group. They know that four points from their final two games should be enough to pip the Irish to third, but that’s a task easier said than done. The Scots have had their chances in this group and blown them, can they really stop this Polish side at Hampden Park?
The Poles come here with arguably the best striker in the world right now. Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski is in unbelievable form, hitting 12 goals in his last four games. He’s also the top scorer in qualifying, with 10 goals from just eight matches. He’s Poland’s main goal threat, and while he won’t have the same service that he would with Bayern, he’ll certainly cause some problems in this clash. He’s a massive price of 13/8 to score anytime in this one with Bet365, which is one we recommend taking. With the Poles looking to win and possibly confirm their place in the finals, you can bet they’ll be relying on their in-form striker to be among the goals. Given the ease Thomas Muller had here last month, Lewandowski should have no problems against this Scottish defence.
Friday 9th October 2015
England v Estonia (19:45) – England over 2.5 team goals (20/23 with Coral)
England’s final two games don’t really mean too much, given that they have already made it through the group. They qualified with three games to spare last month, and now they host Estonia in a dead rubber game. This should be a chance for Roy Hodgson to experiment, and he’ll be telling his stars that there are places up for grabs in this team and certainly the squad. Right now, the Three Lions line up is far from certain.
Expect a couple of players to be given a chance here, which should give England the drive they’d miss after qualifying. On top of that, Hodgson has set his sights on a 100% qualification record, so he’ll be demanding a win. England usually deal with these kinds of games pretty easily, and that’s why we’re backing them to win comfortably. A few of their players have hit goalscoring form going in to this game, so we’re backing over 2.5 team goals, with England seeing off the Estonians with ease.
Saturday 10th October 2015
Bosnia v Wales (19:45) – Gareth Bale to score any time (2/1 with Sky Bet)
Wales head into this game just a point shy of booking their place in the Euros, and they’ll be looking to wrap up qualification in Bosnia on Saturday night. The Bosnians haven’t been great in the campaign so far, and they currently sit fourth in the six team group. The side that made the World Cup last year haven’t reached those heights this time around, so they don’t seem like much of a threat to Chris Coleman’s hopes of qualifying for France. The big question is, will Gareth Bale and co be going out for a draw or pushing for a victory?
The Welsh do have a home game against Andorra next, so they can afford to drop points in this one. Of course they’d rather have it wrapped up sooner rather than later, but they know they can counter attack and push for the win in Bosnia. Coleman will probably not want to change their set-up after the success it has brought them, so don’t expect them to fully park the bus. We think the Welsh will look to punish the home side on the counter, and who better to do that than Bale? We’re backing Wales’ pacey Welsh talisman to score anytime in his country’s biggest game in a long, long time.