Wales will resume their World Cup qualifying campaign on Thursday afternoon as they make the long trip to Astana to take on Kazakhstan.
Wales made a solid start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, as home wins over Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein came either side of a 1-1 draw away at North Macedonia.
Craig Bellamy’s men then had a horror opening half an hour in Brussels in which they trailed Belgium 3-0, and despite pulling the game back to 3-3, they left the Belgian capital empty-handed as a late Kevin De Bruyne strike gave The Red Devils all three points on an evening our man SlipsTips landed a couple of winners.
That result leaves The Dragons in second position in Group J, a point behind North Macedonia and three ahead of Belgium, albeit the Belgians have two games in hand.
After that 3-1 defeat in Cardiff against Wales in their group opener, Kazakhstan got their opening points in Group J in their next outing as they won 0-2 away at minnows Liechtenstein.
However, Ali Aliyev’s hosts failed to build on that result, as they lost 0-1 at home to North Macedonia, leaving them five points off the pace, albeit with a game in hand.
How the bookies view it: Wales favourites
Despite failing to win each of their opening two away qualification matches, Wales are short-priced favourites to leave Astana with all three points, with BoyleSports pricing them at just 1/2.
Kazakhstan are 11/2 underdogs with the same firm despite playing at home, whilst the draw is 14/5.
Head to head: Two on the bounce for Wales?
The reverse fixture in Cardiff at the end of March was the first-ever meeting between these two nations, with Wales winning 3-1.
Players to watch: Harry to be the Hero again?
So often, Harry Wilson saves his best performances for The Dragons and has scored an impressive 14 goals across his opening 62 caps.
The Fulham winger has scored in six of his previous seven appearances for Craig Bellamy’s visitors – including in each of his only two matches in Group J – and is an appealing 15/8 at BoyleSports to continue his fine goal-scoring form for his country.Predicted line-ups:
Predicted line-ups:
Kazakhstan will be without goalkeeper Alexander Zarutskyi through injury, whilst former captain Askhat Tagybergen has retired from international football.
Wales will be without captain Aaron Ramsey and Leeds United’s Ethan Ampadu.
Kazakhstan: Seisen, Tapalov, Alip, Maliye, Kairov, Vorogovskiy, Chesnokov, Muzhikov, Orazov, Zaynutdinov, Samorodov
Wales: Darlow, Roberts, Rodon, Davies, Williams, James, Cullen, Johnson, Wilson, Thomas, Moore
Anything else catch the eye?
After picking up a solitary point from their opening two World Cup qualifiers on the road, Wales can ill-afford to drop more points in Astana on Thursday.
Kazakhstan have lost 12 of their previous 15 internationals – only defeating Curacao and Liechtenstein in that run – and have failed to score in each of their last four competitive matches on home soil.
Wales to Win & Under 4.5 Goals landed in the reverse fixture and appeals at 4/5 at Bet365, whilst The Dragons to score 2+ goals also appeals at 4/5 at William Hill, something they have achieved in 3/4 of their qualifiers so far.
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