the premier league has been pushed to the side this weekend, with a crunch double header of internationals coming up. all five british and irish sides have something to play for in the final two games of their world cup qualifying group, with as many as three uk sides possibly making the play-offs. ahead of these crunch games, we’ve picked out a few betting tips for you to take a look at.
england have the least to worry about of all of the british and irish teams. gareth southgate has taken the three lions to the verge of qualification, and they can seal top spot by avoided defeat in this clash. they’re out for a win against slovenia, especially with the visitors struggling away from home.
it’s hard to see the wembley faithful taking too kindly to england playing out a 0-0 stalemate with slovenia just to qualify for russia. however, the game might end up being that tight, as the away side have lost 1-0 thanks to late goals in their previous two away trips. could they be in for a similar fate on thursday night?
england have scored in the first half of every home qualifier so far, and they’re likely to do the same here. however, we can’t see this being a high scoring tie. in fact, england are improving at the back too, especially with john stones getting top level experience at manchester city. we’re predicting a home win to nil to take england through, and that can be backed at betting odds of evens with betvictor.
ahead of this round of internationals, it’s worth taking a look at our odds comparison. if you’re backing our betting tips or a few predictions of your own, you’ll want to ensure you get the best betting odds. odds comparison ensures you find the best price for your bet, meaning you’ll land the biggest returns available if your selection wins.
scotland have the most to do of any of the british sides, as they need to finish with back to back victories to make the play-offs. their push for second spot is impressive after their poor start, but do they have enough momentum to claim all three points at home to slovakia this week?
the scots have a solid home qualifying record, with their only defeat in the last two years coming against germany. there’s no shame in losing to the world champions, and the scots have shown their ability with recent wins at home, plus they were strong in a 3-0 win away to lithuania.
we think scotland have enough to take advantage of a slovakia side who haven’t looked entirely comfortable in this group. the visitors have conceded far too many goals, and they lost away trips to the other top four sides in this group. we’re going for a home win in this game at decent odds of 7/5 with betfair. we also like the look of scotland to win and both teams to score at 9/2 with bet365.
georgia v wales: wales need to maintain momentum
wales are heading to georgia in their penultimate game, aiming to keep their push for second spot on track. they’re battling with the republic of ireland for a play-off spot, and those two meet in cardiff in the final match. the welsh need a win here to go into that game, but can they claim all three points in a potentially tricky trip?
the welsh need to be wary of this georgia side, given that they have scored in seven of their eight matches so far. the hosts haven’t been blown away too often against these sides, and they’ve seen their fair share of goals. the only problem for the home side is the fact that they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in this campaign, and that’s unlikely to change on friday.
given that btts has landed in six of georgia’s qualifying games – including a trip to wales – we think it’s worth backing goals here. you can get great value on both sides scoring, which is best priced at 11/8 with coral. we think that’s a great value bet here, while we’re also tempted by the away win given that wales are so close to finishing second. we’re backing wales and btts also, which can be backed at 19/5, again those odds with coral.
northern ireland have had a strong campaign, which has secured a place in the top two for them. however, they still have work to do in order to make sure they’re one of the eight teams making the play-offs. one of the nine runners-up will miss out, so ni can’t afford a thumping.
the northern irish only lost by two in their trip to germany earlier in this group, and they’re likely to face a rotated side here. they recorded a 1-0 defeat to germany at euro 2016, when they also needed to protect their goal difference. we can see the ulstermen pulling off a similar result at windsor park, so we’re backing ni with a +2 handicap at 10/11 with betfred, which seems like great value.
before you go putting together your world cup qualifying bets, don’t forget to take a look at our odds comparison. you can check the latest prices on all of our betting tips, and any predictions of your own, which will give you the best price going on any of those bets. by finding the best betting odds available, you should see a massive difference to any accumulators you place. after all, who wants to settle for the second best odds?