the 2018 fifa world cup qualifiers get back underway this weekend, with some exciting-looking games to look forward to.
wales travel to the aviva stadium to take on republic of ireland on friday night, whilst england, scotland and northern ireland are all in qualifying action on sunday. we’ll be focussing on saturday’s match between belgium and greece, and the three matches involving the home nations on sunday.
as we edge towards the halfway point of the qualification campaign, things are starting to heat up in the race to russia. with our live odds comparison, tips, analysis and more, we’ll be doing our best to help you out with the betting options this weekend.
we begin with the big game in world cup qualification group h between roberto martinez’s belgium and michael skibbe’s greece. with only two points separating these countries in the table, we should be in for a cracking contest on saturday.
martinez’s belgium lead the way in group h with 12 points to their name. the belgians have beaten the likes of cyprus, bosnia & herzegovina, gibraltar and estonia, scoring 21 goals and conceding just once in the process. greece, meanwhile, have won three and drawn one.
as expected, the hosts are the strong favourites to maintain their 100% record, with betfair offering betting odds of just 3/10 for a home win. looking at our live odds comparison, the greeks are available at an eye-opening 10/1 (bet365) to cause an upset in brussels. meanwhile, you can get the draw at odds of 17/4 with sporting bet.
we just can’t see anything other than a routine belgium victory on saturday. martinez’s troops have arguably been the standout team during qualifying so far, and we believe they will put one foot in russia come full time on saturday evening. coral are offering the tempting odds of 19/20 for the belgians to win with a -1 goal handicap.
after gaining 10 points from their opening four qualifying matches, things are basically going to plan for gareth southgate and england. this sunday, the three lions welcome edgaras jankauskas’ lithuania to wembley.
after beginning their campaign with a last-gasp 1-0 win in slovakia, england ended 2016 with a routine 3-0 victory over old enemy scotland back in november. the english will now be looking for a winning start to 2017 this sunday, stretching their legs at the top of group d in the process.
the lithuanians have earned solid draws with slovenia and scotland, as well as seeing off malta, but head to the english capital as the big underdogs. betfair are offering a whopping 35/1 for jankauskas’ troops to cause an almighty upset in london. you can even get the draw at 17/2 (betvictor).
england are as short as 1/8 with sky bet for the win, so it’s worth backing southgate’s boys to win by a margin at wembley. therefore, we believe taking up ladbrokes’ evens for the three lions to win -2 is the way to go in this one.
the standout world cup qualifier in group c is northern ireland’s home clash with norway. this is a game norn iron should be looking to win, especially as the norwegians have already been beaten three times so far. as for ni, they have won two, drawn one and lost one, trailing germany by five points.
after a memorable uefa euro 2016 campaign, michael o’neill’s northern ireland will be looking to build on that, reaching their first world cup finals since 1986 in the process. in their previous two home matches in group c, the green and white army have seen off san marino and azerbaijan, both by a 4-0 scoreline. meanwhile, norway’s only win was a 4-1 home victory over san marino back in october.
a decade ago, norway would have been the strong favourites in this fixture, but things have changed drastically over the last few years. norn iron are certainly a nation to be reckoned with nowadays, and they will be looking to secure a vital three points on home soil in this crucial qualifier.
looking at the odds comparison, the best odds you can get on an away win are 23/10 (bet365), whilst the draw is priced at 2/1 with betfred. however, we’re predicting the irish to seal a massive three points on sunday, with william hill’s 29/20 being the standout price.
after following up their opening day win with one point from their last three qualifiers, nothing short of three points will do for gordon strachan’s scotland this weekend. on sunday, the scots welcome srecko katanec’s slovenia to hampden park, who are chasing down england at the top of group f.
as difficult a task as it will be, scotland can’t afford any more slip ups. the slovenians, who are unbeaten during qualifying, have their own ambitions of reaching russia. so far, slovenia have held england to a 0-0 draw, drawn 2-2 with lithuania, and beaten slovakia and malta.
despite being four points adrift of their visitors in the table, the scots go into this qualifier as the 7/5 favourites with sporting bet. slovenia, meanwhile, are available at the generous price of 23/10 at ladbrokes.
however, we’re having a tough time splitting these two, as we can make a case for scotland and slovenia. if the scots are to gain the required points haul to reach russia, then the majority of those points will probably come on home turf – whereas the slovenians are strong on the road. because of that, we can see this one ending all square in the scottish capital, with betway (11/5) offering the best price for the draw.