The penultimate set of matches in the Euro 2024 qualifying competition continue on Friday when another three groups play out their second to last round of games on a day where more automatic qualifiers for the main finals could be confirmed.
Among the teams on show on Friday night are the defending champions Italy and the team they beat to win the last tournament in England while Denmark and Poland are also on show over the course of the day.
Group C
England have already qualified for the finals in Germany in Group C and on Friday night they will be expected to sew up top spot when they play host to the minnows in the group in Malta at Wembley Stadium. England need just a point to guarantee top spot. The bigger game in the group is the other one though as Italy look to move level on points with second placed Ukraine heading into their battle on Monday night. To do that they need to beat North Macedonia in their final home game of the group.
Group E
We have a huge match in Group E on Friday night where third placed Poland complete their group campaign against second placed Czech Republic. Poland will move into second until Monday night at least if they win the game but if they fail to win they will have to go through the play-offs to make it into the finals. The other match in this group is the early kick off between a Moldova side, who amazingly are still alive in the competition but to stay in the hunt for automatic qualification they have to win at home to the leaders Albania, who secure their place in the finals with a win in that game.
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Group H
The opening match of Group H will see Kazakhstan looking to keep their automatic qualification hopes alive when they play host to San Marino in the first kick off on the day. A win will move the Kazakhs to within a point of second placed Denmark and the leaders Slovenia and they meet in a huge game for both sides in the last game to kick off. In between those two matches Finland will look to begin the build-up to their play-off campaign in order to qualify for the finals. Northern Ireland will be the team looking to cause them a few issues.
Betting
Northern Ireland have been pretty wretched in this campaign with their only two wins coming in the matches against San Marino and they are already out of the competition. They can’t even get a play-off spot and head to Finland without a few key players with Jonny Evans out injured and Shea Charles suspended for the game. Bailey Peacock-Farrell isn’t available either and it might be that Michael O’Neill looks at what he has got with the World Cup qualifying in mind.
Finland can’t really afford to do that. While they can’t qualify automatically for the finals, they are guaranteed a play-off spot so they will be looking to build up some momentum going into those matches in March. They haven’t been great in the campaign and their run has fizzled out recently, although their most recent three defeats have all been to the top three in the table. Finland have won in Kazakhstan and more importantly in Northern Ireland and they also beat Slovenia at home so they have been competitive in the group if not spectacular. Northern Ireland massively lack a goal threat and with Finland having good options between the sticks and at the top end of the pitch I expect them to pick up a win here.
Tips
Back Finland to beat Northern Ireland for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Coral
