REMEMBER Euro 2016, remember Gareth Bale … remember how good he was.
Bale was one of the stars of the tournament in Wales' amazing run to the semi-finals and will be expected to lead his men to Russia 2018.
Wales kick off at home to Moldova tonight and are no bigger than 2-7 at William Hill. They should win but sometimes the Welsh find sides tough to break down at home.
That's where Bale comes in. Scarily, boss Chris Coleman claims his talisman is improving and pointed to the fact he netted after 75 seconds of Real Madrid's first game of the season. Other less robotic stars are still recovering from the rigous of France.
Wales are without Aaron Ramsey so Bale will need to be perform and the most popular bet of the night is Bale to score first at 5-2 with Paddy Power.
Bale is 4-5 at Ladbrokes to score at any time while Hal Robson-Kanu is 5-2 with Paddy Power. Robson-Kanu's exploits earned him a move to West Brom and he is 7-1 at Paddy Power to break the deadlock. He's worth a look if as expected Moldova concentrate their efforts in stopping Bale.
In the only previous meeting between the sides in Wales in 1995 the only goal was scored by the late, great Gary Speed.
Moldova's only win in 21 came against Andorra and the weakness of the opposition should see Wales make the perfect start. A 1-0 Welsh win pays 17-4 at 888sport while 2-0 could come in at 43-10.
There are another eight times tonight and Iceland could be worth a look at an ordinary Ukraine. They'll be on a high after beating England at the Euros and look big at 4-1 with bet365. It's so big you can take less risk with Iceland draw no bet at 13-5 with 888sport.
Ukraine lost all of their matches at Euro 2016 and this game will be behind closed doors as a punishment for fans' racist chants in a qualifier versus San Marino. That can only help Iceland who are 4-6 at Coral to score having done so in all of their games in the France finals.
Austria should win in Georgia and are 1-1 at Betfred and William Hill and I like Italy away to Israel but they are no bigger than 7-10 at Betfred.
Like Northern Ireland did in Prague last night the Republic of Ireland could open with a draw in Serbia and Croatia look a little short at home to Turkey at 4-7 even they should win with the likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic on board.
Spain have a gimme three points against Liechtenstein and it's just a matter of how many they win by. They are so short even Spain -3 is odds in at 8-11 with Paddy Power. if you think they can win by 5-0 or better try -4 at 6-4 with Paddy Power.
David Silva bagged a double in last week's friendly win away to Belgium and is 21-20 at Coral to net again.
Bets to Consider
Bale to score WINS
Serbia v Ireland draw WINS
Iceland draw no bet VOID
Iceland to score WINS
Austria WINS
Spain -3 WINS
Silva to score WINS
World Cup 2022 Coverage
- What's coming up? View a list of upcoming World Cup Fixtures.
- Missed a match? Check out our World Cup Results for all the latest full-time goals.
- Think you know who will win outright? Then View our World Cup Odds comparison tables from top UK bookmakers.
- Betting Offer: We have collected world cup betting offers all in one place so you don't have to.
- Group by Group Betting Tips; Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H.
- World Cup Betting Tips; Golden Boot, Golden Glove, Group Stage Acca, Dark Horses and Outright Winners
- Highbet: Sportsbook and online casino with 30+ sports, 100's of betting markets and competitive betting odds.
Resident football tipster at Scotland's most read newspaper, the Daily Record, for over 20 years and proud host of one the best betting communities on the web with daily betting tips.
Wales have played moldova twice losing the first meeting 3-2 in 1994
I’d be surprised to see Robson Kanu start this evening,Coleman will most likely go with Sam vokes up front .
Finland vs Kosavo
Although some confusion still remains on the eligibility of some of the Kosavo squad, it’s unlikely to dampen their spirits in their FIFA debut. They have some decent talent at their disposal likely to have 40% of the crowd cheering them on. Their actual form is Pl 7 W 3 D 2 L 2, their latest win was 2-0 over fellow minnows Faroe Islands.
Finland on the other hand have lost 6 of their last 7 and they have only scored in one of these. They are low on confidence and their inability to find the net could cost them tonight. I do think it will be low scoring and wouldn’t be surprised if it was 0-0 at half time (13/8 – bet365). I also fancy Kosavo to sneak it 1-0 (10/1 – bet365) and the 0-0 HT 1-0 FT pays 14/1.
0-0 HT – 13/8
Finland 0 – 1 Kosavo – 10/1
HT 0-0 FT 0-1 – 14/1