The second running of the UEFA Nations League begins this week with a double header of fixtures over six nights beginning on Thursday as the best in Europe meet each other while the lesser lights also get a chance to be competitive.
This format was incredibly successful first time around when Portugal came out as the champions and they will be wanting to defend their title. We have to wait until later in the weekend to see them begin their title defence but we still have some big nations on show on Thursday.
League A
There are two matches in League A on Thursday evening including one of the best looking matches in the entire competition when former world champions Germany and Spain clash in a mouth-watering contest. The other game in the top league sees the new boys Ukraine featuring for the first time at this level when they take on the beaten finalists of the first Nations League in Switzerland in an interesting looking match.
League B
There are four matches in League B on Thursday night and this is the one the Welsh and Irish eyes will be on because their sides are in action here. Wales start off their campaign with a trip to a much improved Finland outfit while the Republic of Ireland start out life under Stephen Kenny with a trip to Bulgaria which they will feel they can win. Those matches are in Group 4 while in Group 3 another improved side are on show in the shape of Turkey. They welcome Hungary to Istanbul while the other match sees Russia taking on Serbia.
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League C
Two matches take place as League C gets underway on Thursday as well. They both come from Group 3 where the rise of Kosovo continues as they make the journey to take on a fading Moldova side. The pick of the two matches is probably the other one though as Slovenia entertain the former European champions Greece in a match which could give us an early indication as to who will be promoted from this section.
League D
We also have a couple of matches in League D as well on Thursday and they come from Group 1 where four minnows battle it out for the chance to get themselves into a position where they can improve and be promoted to League C as the Faroe Islands host Malta and Latvia welcome Andorra to Riga. All four sides will be looking to get off to a fast start in what looks like being a pretty competitive group for that level.
Betting
Turkey are a much improved side over the last 18 months or so and I expect them to showcase that improvement when they host Hungary on Thursday evening. Hungary have been a little disappointing for a while now having looked to have turned a corner when they qualified for the Euros out in France four years ago. They have lost five of their last six matches with their only solace coming in the form of a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan which doesn’t exactly set the pulses racing.
Turkey went through what international football there was last season undefeated and that included a draw in France along the way. They have already qualified for Euro 2020 so have that to look forward to and the general impression is that this is a nation that is on the up. I’m not going to get too involved in this opening night of action with the majority of the European leagues still to get underway but there is a core of this Turkey squad that play in the French league that is up and running and that could be significant. I expect Turkey to win this.
Tips
Back Turkey (-0.75AH) to beat Hungary for a 3/10 stake at 1.75 with BetVictor
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