Following an exciting weekend of action in the domestic leagues, attention now turns back to international football with the resumption of the World Cup Qualifiers. It is crunch time for a lot of teams in their quest to qualify for next summer’s tournament and there are some massive games taking place in Europe on Thursday night. In this preview I’ll be building a 4-Fold bet for you with all odds courtesy of Ladbrokes and accurate at the time of writing.
England vs Slovenia
England can seal their World Cup qualification with a victory over third placed Slovenia at Wembley Stadium. These sides drew 0-0 when they met earlier in the competition, but England will start this one as big favourites. Manager Gareth Southgate will be hoping that Harry Kane can continue his superb recent form which saw him find the net 13 times in the month of September. England will be without his Spurs team mate Dele Alli, but the Three Lions should still be confident of beating a Slovenia side who lack any real quality beyond Marek Hamsik.
England to win – 1/3
Malta vs Lithuania
A complete dead rubber this one as the worst teams in Group F meet. Malta are yet to pick up a point in this qualification campaign, whilst Lithuania’s only victory came against Malta. I’m backing the Lithuanian’s to pick up an away win in this one against a Malta side who have scored just twice in eight games.
Lithuania to win – 1/1
Northern Ireland vs Germany
Northern Ireland are a decent side now and they currently sit second in Group C, just five points behind a Germany side who have won all of their games. Northern Ireland have conceded just twice in qualification, and I fancy them to get something out of this game against a German side who have already sealed their qualification. Germany are missing a few key players and it could be the perfect time for Northern Ireland to surprise them.
Draw – 4/1
San Marino vs Norway
Norway have the task of facing the worst side in European Qualification on Thursday night as they travel to face the minnows of San Marino. San Marino have conceded 38 goals in eight games and I’d expect things to get even worse for them in this one. I’m backing Norway to win with a -2 handicap here and despite struggling in recent times, Norway have far too much quality for San Marino.
Norway to win -2 – 8/15