THIS set of World Cup qualifiers are never ending, and we’ve got two more on Sunday to preview before the Premier League returns starting with Wales’ Group D clash with Georgia in Cardiff.
The Welsh have made a great start to their World Cup qualifying campaign starting with a routine 4-0 route at home to Moldova, which was followed with an equally impressive 2-2 draw in Austria midweek.
Chris Coleman’s side will count themselves very unlucky not to win in Vienna after the Welsh led twice; they looked much the better side throughout the 90 minutes, and they are a confident selection to maintain their unbeaten start with a win against Georgia.
The bookies won’t give you much for your buck though, and the layers have the Welsh at just 1.33 for the win, which is too short for me to get too heavily involved. They will, however, be included in my weekend World Cup accumulator.
Georgia had their chances on Thursday night against an injury hit Republic of Ireland side, but the Georgians just can’t score goals against top quality opposition, and I can’t see them causing a confident Wales any problems at all in Cardiff.
So for that reason, the best way to play in this one is to back the Welsh to win this to nil, which at 1.83 with Paddy Power is a much better bet than taking the home side at the short odds just to win the game in 90 minutes.
Moldova v Republic of Ireland
MARTIN O’Neil takes his injury hit Republic of Ireland squad to Moldova on Sunday in another Group D World Cup qualifier clash, and this is going to be a lot closer than the bookies odds suggest.
The Irish are totally decimated by injuries ahead of this trip, with Norwich’s Robbie Brady adding his name to the long list of casualties in the 1-0 win over Georgia. To make matters worse for the Irish, their best performer in the last 12 months, Hull’s record breaking summer signing Jeff Hendrick, is suspended for the trip as well.
The Irish used all their luck on Thursday night in Dublin as for long parts of the match they were totally outplayed by the Georgians, and even though I think they will win, the Irish reserves aren’t tempting me for a wager at odds of just 1.57.
The Moldovans have been lambs to the slaughter in both of their Group D qualifiers after a 4-0 defeat in Wales and a 3-0 home loss to Serbia in their most recent qualifier on Thursday night.
After those two heavy defeats, they’ve been given a 7.50 quote to win this match with the odds compilers at Sportingbet, which if successful will see them win only their second international in two years.
The Irish should have enough quality to get through, even though they are missing a whole host of key players. They have struggled for goals since the retirement from international football of record goalscorer Robbie Keane, and for that reason the odds on offer look too short for me to get involved on the win market.
This Irish squad doesn’t look to have many goals in it, and this match looks all about the result rather than the performance; another Ireland 1-0 win at 6.00 with Paddy Power looks a sensible play, but the best bet is to beat Ireland to win this to nil, which is 2.30 with Paddy Power.
