INTERNATIONAL cards are always tough but the second half of a double header should provide punters with more chances to win.
It's handy seeing sides in action then being able to bet on them just four days later. Last week was the first time most teams had played a competitive match for more than three months.
Sides who impressed last Friday included Sweden (2-1 in Ireland), Iceland (4-4 in Switzerland), Georgia (0-0 v France) and Bulgaria (0-1 in Italy but only because Gianluigi Buffon was brilliant).
Sweden should win away to Kazahkstan on Tuesday but we know the home side are on the up so a best 1-3 at BetVictor looks pretty short.
I'll be on Bulgaria away to Malta and they are slightly better at 2-5 with bet365 and BetVictor. They played well in Italy and I've read a report stating it was Buffon v Bulgaria.
Iceland will be one I consider for the Super Single and they are a biggest 6-5 with William Hill and others at home to Albania. How Iceland recovered from 4-1 down to draw with the Swiss I'll never know.
France have now failed to score in five matches and Karim Benzema's being slated by the media having not scored for his country for 18 months. The alternative is Olivier Giroud who isn't rated good enough to play up front on his own.
The French have a decent side otherwise but who'd back them at a best 8-13 away to Belarus when even Luxembourg and Liechenstein are currently more prolific in front of goal.
Holland were held in Estonia but the only way to back them in Andorra will be on the goals markets and the same can be said for Germany in the Faroes and Poland at San Marino.
And what about the home nations. Scotland's slow progress continues – and despite the 2-0 defeat by Belgium on Friday there were encouraging signs.
With Macedonia beating Wales 2-1 Gordon Strachan's have slumped to the bottom of Group A and head for Skopje needing a result.
I can see why Scotland are underdogs at 13-5 with McBookie.com and bet365 but a Welsh side without Gareth Bale had chances last week and if Scotland cut out the defensive mistakes that have leaked five goals to Belgium and England they have a chance of picking up a point at least.
Wales entertain Serbia looking for revenge after losing 6-1 away. I don't think I'd consider the Welsh against anyone with Bale and he's unlikely to start.
Both sides are out of the running for Rio now so there's only pride to play for. Consider Wales if Bale plays – although he can't be match fit – and if doesn't go for the draw.
England could also be heading for a draw in their crucial qualifier in Ukraine. It's vital Roy Hodgson's side don't lose as Ukraine will go top with a win and of course Montenegro are breathing down their necks.
Hogdson is running out of options up front with Daniel Sturridge and Wayne Rooney injured and Danny Welbeck banned.
That means a start for Rickie Lambert who is 13-2 (various) to hit the opener. It could be a night to remember for Frank Lampard who will collect his 100th cap and he is at Hills to score first.
A draw pays 9-4 at Ladbrokes while best price for either side is 9-5 which suggests bookies expect a stalemate.
Northern Ireland almost caused the shock of the night when they led 10-man Portugal 2-1. But Chris Brunt's sending off changed the game, Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick and ex-Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty also headed for an early bath.
Brunt and Lafferty are among players missing for what in many ways will be a tougher trip for the Irish to Luxembourg. They are expected to win but I'm looking at the minnows not to lose at 1-1 with boylesports.
It was 1-1 when they met in Belfast last September and since then Luxembourg have drawn with Azerbaijan home and away, drawn with Armenia at home and beaten Lithuania last month.
Luxembourg even managed a goal in their 4-1 defeat in Russia on Friday and shouldn't be as big as 29-10 with boylesports.
I'll be having a look at the South American games later but Argentina, who have Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi back, seem decent prospects to me at Paraguay at just under evens as they try to book their finals spot early.
I put together this piece while looking at stats, team news, etc. I hope that gives punters some pointers about tomorrow's matches and I welcome comments on who you've picked out at this early stage.
I've got an idea about the Super Single and Top Treble in my head but won't post them until tomorrow morning after checking the latest teams news.
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In December 2020 we sadly 
mr fix>>> we are expecting ur games. u are going to post….. thanks for the game some of d game are working out
Super single – Serbia win @ 2,6
Bonkers bet – Serbia – 1 @5
Massive odds considering Wales lost 6-1 in reverse fixture and they’ll likely be without bale. Despite being only 3rd in group Serbia haven’t performed badly against the top two and are a class above others in group.
MrT, latest news suggests Bale will start but he won’t be match fit.
i agree with the -1 serbia, theyre a good side and quite underated, besides wales are still sh*t with or without the £86 million submarine.
Nathan, if Serbia are missing a half a team I’d think again about the -1. Also both are out so little to play for but pride.
Great stuff Paul much appreciated! Saves me a lot of time and effort! ,cheers!
I like the look of Romania at home to Turkey.
They are 6/5 on various sites. After a good result against Hungary on Friday, a win here would virtually secure 2nd spot in a tough group.
Looking at Armenia v Denmark…
Armenia’s home form is P3 L3 F1 A7
They have lost at home to minnows Malta (1-0)
Heres the baffling part, since then they have beaten Denmark 4-0 and Czech Rep 2-1 in their last 2 qualifiers. Unpredictable form but at a massive 9/4 at home to the Danes tomorrow, surely worth a punt given their 4-0 demolition in Denmark only 3 months ago!!??
Willie, I’d agree with you but I’d love to know what The Dane’s thoughts are. He called Denmark’s result spot on in Malta by saying they’d win 1-0 or 2-1 and to warn people backing them on the handicaps to forget it. That suggests to me Denmark are in a bad place at the moment and Armenia are one of the teams currently on my Super Single shortlist. Others include Iceland and Luxembourg double chance.
Mr F, Armenia plus a goal must be worth some consideration…
Also, NI at Luxembourg at evens is the stand out value bet for me, they were besting Portugal and should have beaten Russia more last month and are gradually getting it together.
Also, Romania to draw looks good value at 13-5 with bet365.
coops, as I said earlier Luxembourg are tougher to beat these days. I can’t back NI away, they’re a different beast at Windsor Park. Still missing a few players and banned pair Chris Brunt and Kyle Lafferty now as well.
Paul
Iceland is another for me at a decent price.
Im thinking of backing Armenia at 9/4 and adding in the following for small stakes. Maybe trebles and an accer…
Iceland 23/20
Ukraine v England DRAW 9/4 – definitely an unders game
Austria 10/11 – Republics players publicly slaughtering their managers tactics means they don’t want to play for him. Home win for me.
Paul,
I think England will win and perhaps even minus a goal. It looks like one of those matches where it could be a nil each bore or a night of goals, I think Ukraine are not up to much and will have a Trixie with NI, England to win, and Romania to draw.
coops, I think it will be tough for England with the players missing. A draw would be an OK result.
Willie, all of those have a chance for sure. As you say Republic boss under serious pressure.
Republic will draw I would think; Macedonia look likely to win 2-1 or thereabouts v Scotland, a handicap treble could be Italy, Bulgaria and Sweden.
Any thoughts?
Coops, I’m on a Scotland draw but it could be a narrow Macedonia win. I like Bulgaria while Italy and Sweden should win but both could be by one.
Tomorrow night is looking like Traps last game in charge so he should want to go out with a convincing win but i will not be touching the game, not even with bookies money :-)
80 percent of Danish punters are placing their bets on Armenia and there is a reason for this.
Denmark have been unstable since Euro12 and are currently in the midst of a larger replacement with the inclusion of a number of young inexperienced players.
Denmark’s usual savior in the qualifiers, Bendtner, is gone and his replacement, cornelius, is injured. They haven’t got the goalgetter and the game against Malta just showed what has been obvious for a long time; Denmark can’t “create” the game against compact defensive teams such as Armenia. The slaughter in Copenhagen will probably not repeat itself tomorrow but Armenien victory or a draw looks like an excellent bet.
Oli, cheers for that. I reckon there will be few on this site on Armenia. Right, off for a pint, top tips will be up in the morning.
What about Lithuania at home to Lichtenstein ?
1.25
Nigeria vs Bukina Faso
1.7
Tony, if there’s one team I’ll never back it’s Lithuania. This game looks a classic unders one with both sides struggling to score. Lithuania’s last win of any sort was last October in Liechtenstein and since then they’ve been rubbish, Liechtenstein have drawn 2 of their last 3 qualifiers against Slovakia and Latvia and lost 1-0 to Greece to there are signs of improvement. Lithuania may edge it but I can’t bring myself to back them.
I’ve decided to stick to the teams with tender odds rather than going for anything shorter. I’ve eliminated the home nations and although I was in deep consideration for a Macedonia win, theres too many if’s and but’s for confidence.
My triple threat kicks off at 7pm in the World Cup Europe Qualifiers with Romania taking on Turkey. Same fixture head to head shows Romania winning 4 out of 4 times, the last meeting being in 2007. These stats do go far back, but psychologically Romania will have that in mind. Recently however, Romania have W4 D1 in their last 5 homes and even though the majority of their success were in a friendly, they played them like a World Cup final with comfortable victories. Turkey have W2 and L3 on their last 5 aways and are currently enduring a disappointing campaign, sitting just 3 points above Estonia. Romania @ 23/20
Next in the same competition is Cyprus v Slovenia (7.30pm). The visitors bring a variety of players from respectable teams, including the winger Valter Birsa recently signed by AC Milan and PSV frontman Tim Matavz. Cyprus have not won in their last 5 games and have only collected 4 points in 7 games. Although Slovenia lay in 5th place, they’re only 2 points away from 2nd and should have too much for a Cyprus team, in which theres no doubt they’ll see this as the easiest team in the table to get 3 point from. Slovenia @ 6/5
Lastly its Iceland v Albania (8pm). Both teams as bad as each other, both teams still with a chance to qualify, both teams needing a win. Theres no home advantage here as Iceland play as bad as Albania do away, however Iceland can take pride in knowing they battled with table toppers Switzerland in a thrilling 4-4 draw which saw AZ Alkmaar’s winger Johan Berg Gudmundsson grab a hat trick. The same fight will knock Albania off its feet and after that showing, I cant see Iceland bossman Lars Lagerback settling for anything less. Iceland @ 11/10
Romania
Slovenia
Iceland
A lip licking treble of just under 10/1 @Skybet
Another triple threat for some additional interest:
Kazakhstan v Sweden – Over 2.5 Goals
Slovakia v Bosnia-Herz – Bosnia-Herz
Malta v Bulgaria – Bulgaria
Just over 6/1 @Skybet
Satoshi, good write-up and I like your reasoning for the treble. Romania are a side on the up and Iceland must be buoyed by that comeback against Switzerland.
Thanks Paul, I’m hoping the results are as good as the write up
Satoshi, me too. I’ve done a lot of digging so hopefully in the morning when I have another look I’ll pick out the right ones.
Paul, I can see you might be considering Iceland as a Super Single, I had to put it in a treble as I can see it happening if they show the same determination they did against the Swiss (which they should do as it crunch time really).
Mr.Fixit/Satishi,
We thank you in advance for the good analysis
Satoshi – That’s a really good write up, I’m going to be backing your treble all the way!
Thanks Alex. Kick off soon for the main treble
Russia
Sweden
Bulgaria
Iceland
Italy
Honduras
Pls whatt abt rusia vs is isreal………………………………………. And NIGERIa vs burkinafaso match .. Mrfix… Anytin abt dat game..
adewumi, I expect Russia to win, haven’t looked at the African games just because there’s so much going on in Europe and South America. It’s impossible for me to study every fixture so maybe you can give us your thoughts on the Nigeria game.
adewumi, I expect Russia to win, haven’t looked at the African games just because there’s so much going on in Europe and South America. It’s impossible for me to study every fixture so maybe you can give us your thoughts on the Nigeria game.
Badjasper, interested in you Ghana reserves comment. Are there star men missing then?
Couple that i’m on today
Armenia (v Denmark)
Iceland (v Albania)
Costa Rica (v Jamaica)
16.39/1
England Draw no bet (v Ukraine)
Brazil -1 AH (v Portugal without Ronaldo)
Costa Rica Draw no bet (v Jamaica)
Under 3 goal line (Malta v Bulgaria)
8.19/1
Can someone tell me how you should read the comments? Mine are always scrambled for some reason. Hard to figure out what’s going on…
Devastate, we’re going to be changing the way comments are displayed in the near future. Just now you should go to the end of a specific article and go down to comments. They’ll appear in order posted but replies to comments can appear under that comment.
Ghana will be playing with a weakened team after most of the top stars including Michael Essien, Asamoah Gyan, Kwadwo Asamoah and Andre Ayew withdrew from the match.
http://www.goal.com/en-gh/news/4389/ghana/2013/09/09/4250304/man-utds-shinji-kagawa-looking-forward-to-japans-match
I should warn who are going to play against Turkey, our team just changed director and it’s going to be really hard match for Romania. If you are going to play this game, you should consider btts option, it’s the most likely.
And im not acting emotional :)
2 out of 3 : Finland, Bosnia and Turkey to win
Ukraine-England draw
Thanks Satoshi,
your writeup looks real solid. I’ll go for it :)
Put up Cyp – Slo as an extra single.
Thanks Devastate. I put my treble as singles as well, but mainly as covering bets, thats why they’re usually around the evens mark.
Great writeup satoshi.. gone for a trixie. surely atleast 2 of those look like comin in.. thanks
Thanks Mr K. Even 2 would be decent with those odds
Anyone got owt for the Japan vs Ghana game? expecting goals on over 3.5 @ 23/10
Great write up Satoshi, many thanks.
I’m considering backing both trebles then perm any 5 from the 6
Thanks Yesevil. Good idea with those odds
3 potential overs games that have been brought to my attention;
HÄCKEN U21 VS. BROMMAPOJKARNA U21 ( 4pm KICK OFF )
MALMÖ FF U21 VS. LANDSKRONA U21 ( 3pm)
ÅTVIDABERG U21 VS. SYRIANSKA U21 ( 4pm KICK OFF )
Mates be careful about the Turkey … Turkey has big ambition for this match. We have changed coach last week and he is very famous in these kind of matches by inspiring players. I expect hot scenes here. Live bet is the best choice here…
TimHenman, the form suggests Romania will win but I’ll bear your comments in mind. New coaches usually make a difference although it can take longer at international level.
I’m probably coming across as dumb here but why are Spain having to qualify even though they are the current World Cup holders? Don’t they qualify automatically?
John, they changed the rules. Only hosts qualify automatically.
My bonkers accumulator for today with my fancied teams
ARMENIA v Denmark
LITHUANIA v Liechtenstein
RUSSIA v Israel
SLOVENIA v Cyprus
GREECE v Latvia
FRANCE v Belarus
SERBIA v Wales
Seven fold pays a cheeky 56-1, worth a quid of anyone’s money. Good luck if you bet on it. :-)
For people that want to bet on Serbia. I wouldn`t discourage you, but be warned that Serbia is without 5 players that played against Croatia (Matic, Sulejmani, Subotic, Tosic and goalscorer Mitrovic).
Rale, Wales v Serbia is about pride an not much else. Both now eliminated and both missing key players. Bale unlikely to start so I’d be looking at a draw.
Fathead – took your Czech tip earlier!
Lumped on it.. Had me sweating cheers lol
Aye Peelez had me sweating too !
Guys what do you think of my bet?
1 (Bulgaria) Malta v Bulgaria
(Full Time Result) 10/09/2013 None 2/5 To Run
2 (Iceland) Iceland v Albania
(Full Time Result) 10/09/2013 None 7/5 To Run
3 (Italy) Italy v Czech Republic
(Full Time Result) 10/09/2013 None 4/6 To Run
4 (Poland) -4.0,-4.5 San Marino v Poland
(Asian Handicap) 10/09/2013 None 1.825 To Run
Bet Type. No of Bets .Unit Stake Stake To Return Returns
Trebles 4 30.00 120.00 698.71