The UEFA Nations League returns this week with the first legs of the quarter finals and the relegation and promotion play-offs taking place on a decent looking evening of football across the continent on Thursday.
Spots in the semi-finals are up for grabs in the main ties but elevation up the pecking order could be significant for those who can achieve it when it comes to potential qualifying spots for major tournaments in the future so there is plenty at stake here.
Quarter Finals
We will go halfway to determining who will be in the finals of the tournament in the summer on Thursday evening and the key match comes at the San Siro in Milan where Italy host Germany. The winners of this tie will host the finals so there is much more than just a semi-final spot on the line there. The other appealing tie sees the Netherlands and their technical quality taking on the defending and reigning European champions Spain in Rotterdam. Denmark have made it into the quarter finals and they will be looking for a lead to take to Portugal on Sunday evening while the other tie is a repeat of the 2018 World Cup final as Croatia host France in Split.
League A/B Play-offs
There are four spots still available in the top groups for the next campaign and they will go halfway to being filled on Thursday evening. Austria go in search of a return to League A when they host a Serbia side aiming to avoid relegation while Greece will also be looking to earn promotion at the expense of Scotland. Turkey are another side aiming to elevate themselves into the top tier when they host a Hungary side who will be bidding to avoid the drop, while in the other tie at this level, Ukraine will look to take a step closer to relegating Belgium.
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League B/C Play-offs
The final four matches on a busy evening of football across the continent on Thursday evening take us into the play-offs for spots in League B in the next campaign. Republic of Ireland are looking to maintain their second tier status and face a first leg trip to Bulgaria in the opening half of their tie while two perceived minnows of European football clash when Armenia host Georgia in the first leg of a tasty tie. Kosovo will be looking to reach the second tier for the first time when they clash with Iceland while Slovenia are the other tier two nation aiming to avoid relegation. They go away to Slovakia in the first leg of that tie.
Betting
There are a couple of bets that I like over the course of the evening on Thursday with the first of them coming in the quarter final between Croatia and France where the French look great things at a shade above even money. Croatia are doing well to maintain their seat at the top table of European football but they rely way too much on their senior pros for my liking and at some point those players will find the going too tough. There were times we saw that in the group stage where they could only finish with two points from their final three matches. You can’t always judge France in the early stages of events but the tell tale sign that the might be good things here is their win over Italy in the match they had to win to seal top spot in the section. Since then their attacking players have really kicked on with their clubs to add to a defence which has always been pretty miserly. Croatia can be a tough place to go but with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Randal Kolo Muani and others I just expect the French to have too much here.
The other bet that I like on the night is the 4/5 on Austria to get the better of Serbia. I was a little surprised that Serbia were a league above Austria anyway but I expect the lower league side to rectify that over these two legs, beginning in Vienna where they are generally very strong and where they will know that they need to come out on top and take a league to Serbia with them at the weekend. Serbia aren’t the best travellers of all time and they are without their talisman up top in Aleksandar Mitrovic which isn’t going to help their cause. Austria have all of their big hitters available to them and we saw at the Euros last year that they are a fast improving side under Ralf Rangnick and on home soil, with a need to take a lead away with them, I think Austria will get the job done here.
Tips
Back France to beat Croatia for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back Austria to beat Serbia for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Paddy Power
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