The international weekend in terms of the Euro 2020 qualifiers begins on Thursday night with a bumper set of matches to get everything underway on what is an important week for a lot of nations as the competition heads towards its conclusion.
Some big names need results to either strengthen or rescue their qualifying hopes so we are going to see some tense and dramatic action this week. In terms of the home nations it all begins with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland playing on Thursday.
Group C
There are two matches in Group C and it is a big night for Northern Ireland. They head to the Netherlands looking for some kind of result to cling onto second spot in the section. The Netherlands are on a charge at the minute though and will be expected to win there. The other match sees the two minnows in the group battling it out in the early kick off when Belarus entertain Estonia in a match both will fancy their chances in.
Group E
There are only two matches in Group E on Thursday night as well and like Northern Ireland, it is a big night at the office for Wales. They head to Slovakia in huge need of a result of some kind in order to keep their qualifying hopes alive. The other match is the big one though as the leaders Croatia take on a Hungary side in third place but who will go above their opponents if they can replicate their win they achieved when the two sides met in the reverse fixture.
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Group G
Poland let their stranglehold on this group slip with a couple of indifferent results in the last international break so they will be looking to get back on track when they face a Latvia side who are really struggling. Slovenia currently have second spot in their grasp but they face a tricky trip to North Macedonia who are hunting them down in the race for the top two. Austria in third play host to Israel in a match that neither can afford to lose if they want to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Group I
This could be a defining night in this section. Belgium will become the first team to officially qualify for the finals when they beat San Marino in what could well be the biggest mismatch on the night but there is plenty on the line in the other two matches. Kazakhstan host Cyprus in the first match of the day but if that game ends a draw Russia will be able to confirm their qualification for the finals if they can see off a Scotland side, who already need snookers to make it through from this group.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets on Thursday night with Russia beating Scotland very much one of them. Steve Clarke looks to have given up on this campaign and is looking ahead to the playoffs which Scotland are definitely in courtesy of their Nations League exploits. He has named six debutants in his squad for this match including one from the Scottish second tier which highlights the size of the task here given that Russia beat the Scots in the previous international break. They won 2-1 on that occasion but I expect them to win more clinically here. To be fair to Russia they are missing a few with injuries but I don’t see it mattering too much. They should have way too much for a poor Scotland side at home.
Speaking of poor sides Latvia might be the worst team in Europe right now outside the obvious contenders. They have only scored one goal in this campaign and shipped 21 goals in just six matches. Poland are the latest team to head to Riga looking to feast on the buffet and I fancy they’ll fill their boots a bit. Poland aren’t known as a free scoring side but we saw the form of Robert Lewandowski in London last week and I’ve seen Kamil Grosicki in good form first hand this season. I expect Poland to win this one pretty comfortably to gear up for a bigger game on Sunday.
Tips
WON – Back Russia (-1AH) to beat Scotland for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with BetVictor
WON – Back Poland (-2.25AH) to beat Latvia for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
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