International Football – Weekend Betting Preview
To help punters place their football bets, bwin.com has put together a betting preview for this weekend’s Euro 2012 qualifiers involving the home nations. All odds quoted in the article were correct as of 12:00 on Friday, 2nd September but are subject to change.
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With the Premier League in the midst of a 13-day hiatus, attention turns to the international scene this weekend. All of the home nations are in action as their Euro 2012 qualification groups near their climax. England, Scotland, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are seeking wins to boost their chances of making it to the tournament in Poland and Ukraine next year, while Wales have the more modest target of ending a run of four qualification defeats in a row.
England are first up with a 19:15 kick-off against Bulgaria in Sofia this evening. Fabio Capello’s men are not in the best of form having won just two of their last six matches. Nevertheless, they are unbeaten in Group G and top the table on goal difference from Montenegro. Meanwhile, Bulgaria have scored just twice in picking up a win and two draws from five matches. A 4-0 win over Lothar Matthaus’ at Wembley almost a year ago to the day suggests England have the measure of their opponents this evening and the Three Lions are 23/50 to pick up all three points. A home success is priced at 25/4 and a draw is at 3/1.
Northern Ireland’s game with Serbia in Belfast is less clear-cut. Nigel Worthington’s men are a point better off than their opponents this evening, lying third in Group C. That said, Serbia are 11/10 favourites to win the game in bwin’s 3Way football betting market, with a Northern Ireland victory priced at 12/5. Wins have been hard to come by for Norn Iron of late, with just one recorded in their last six games. Goals are also a rarity, with a 4-0 victory over Faroe Islands in their last outing a notable exception. Nevertheless, the hosts have only lost once in their qualification campaign so far and with Serbia not scoring more than once in their last four games, a draw looks the most tempting option at 23/10.
Republic of Ireland continue their impressive qualification campaign against Slovakia. Giovanni Trapattoni’s charges have won four of their last five matches and lead Group B on goal difference from Russia and their opponents this evening. Slovakia’s form has been shaky of late with defeats to Luxembourg, Bosnia Herzegovina and Denmark coming in their last six matches. Punters will therefore want to look past the odds on a draw (23/10) and Slovakia win (63/20) in favour of betting on an Ireland victory at 9/10.
This evening’s other match involving a home nation is Wales v Montenegro. The two teams are in Group G along with England but are at opposite ends of the table. While Montenegro are only behind leaders England on goal difference, Gary Speed’s men are bottom without a single point. Five defeats in their last six suggest Wales are set for another disappointment, with odds on a Welsh win of 21/10 not likely to tempt many. Montenegro are 13/10 to take all three points in Cardiff although as the away side have scored just four goals in their five group matches so far, Wales could yet scrape a draw at 11/5.
This leaves Scotland, who take on Czech Republic tomorrow. It is a must-win game for Craig Levein’s side, who are looking to take the runners-up spot behind Spain in Group I. Czech Republic look good to finish second at present, although with the Scots just four points behind and with a game in hand, a win on Saturday would put them firmly in the driving seat. Scotland go into the game in much better form than their opponents, making them the best bets for the victory at 3/2, with a draw priced at 21/10 and a Czech success at 37/20.
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