The UEFA Nations League continues on Friday evening and after plenty of drama on the opening night of the competition there is no reason to expect anything less over the course of a day where there are eight matches to enjoy.
It is a night where some of the leading nations in world football are on show as Italy and the Netherlands get their campaigns underway. A little closer to home it is the night that Scotland launch their efforts as well so there is plenty to get stuck into.
League A
It is the top league where the Italians and the Dutch are housed and it is those two sides who bring the star flavour to the night of action. Italy have a home tie to get their campaign in Group 1 underway when they host Bosnia and Herzegovina who are competing at this level for the first time. With Italy also in their group, the Dutch will want to get off to a fast start as they bid to make it back to the final stages. They also have a home tie as they take on Poland.
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League B
Four matches take place in the second league on Friday night when Group 1 and Group 2 start out on their journey. That means we have two of the Home Nations sides on show beginning with Northern Ireland in Group 1 where they make the trip to Bucharest to take on Romania. The other game in that group sees a much improved Norway side looking to upset an Austria team who are flattering to deceive a little at the minute. Over in Group 2, Scotland will look to showcase their credentials when they host Israel while there is a derby of sorts between Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
League C
The other two matches on the night come from League C where Group 4 is the centre of attention. The action actually gets underway with an early kick off in which Lithuania take on Kazakhstan for the right to be the early leader of the group. Once they are finished it will be the turn of Belarus and Albania to start their Nations League campaign in a match that both will feel they can win and seize the early initiative in a wide open group.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple over the course of the night on Friday with the first coming in the top league where Italy should be expected to see off Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Italians have found a real groove under Roberto Mancini and while we always expect them to be strong defensively, one of the reasons why they are in such good form is what they offer in attack where the likes of Ciro Immobile is in decent touch. Bosnia are without Miralem Pjanic which is a huge blow to their chances for a side who were in League B in the first Nations League. The visitors are up in class here and I expect them to be found out as a result.
The other bet I like is for Romania to take care of Northern Ireland. The visitors begin life without Michael O’Neill here and that transition period is always going to take some getting used to because the Green and White Army were so successful under the now Stoke gaffer. Ultimately for new boss Ian Baraclough, the immediate future is all about the Euro 2020 play-off with Bosnia and Herzegovina. He might look at some members of his squad here as a preparation for that. Romania are emerging once again as evidenced by their under-21s making the semi-final of the European Championship last summer. Romania are proving hard to beat at home and they can pick up another positive result here.
Tips
Back Italy (-1.25AH) to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
HALF LOSS – Back Romania (-0.25AH) to beat Northern Ireland for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with BetVictor
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