Wales v Slovakia: Wales to win – Evens
Fresh from seeing off the mighty Trinidad and Tobago last Wednesday, a buoyant Wales welcome Slovakia to Cardiff on Sunday as they look to get their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign off to a perfect start.
Okay, describing Ryan Giggs’ men as ‘buoyant’ was probably overstating the fact, but they have been boosted by the availability of Real Madrid star Gareth Bale. He may have sat out the win in Wrexham during midweek, but you can be certain Bale will want to make the most of being in the shop window – especially while he’s in the UK market.
Their opponents Slovakia have been more homesick than Nigel Farage when he has to work in the European Parliament and they’re without a win away from home in seven games. The form of the Slovaks means we’d be silly not to tip Wales at Evens, so we’re backing the Dragons to score a victory here.
Northern Ireland v Belarus: Northern Ireland to win – 4/6
After being utterly robbed of a place at the 2018 World Cup by a very dodgy penalty decision, Michael O’Neill has got his Northern Ireland outfit motoring again after a difficult time in the Nations League.
Estonia were professionally dispatched 2-0 at Windsor Park on Thursday and in all truth, it could have been more for the Green and White Army. Belarus provide the opposition and despite a morale-boosting promotion from their stellar Nations League group (which included heavyweights like Luxembourg, Moldova and San Marino), the eastern Europeans were brought back down to earth with a bang during the week.
Holland battered them 4-0 in Amsterdam and Northern Ireland should be far too cute for them here as well. O’Neill’s men scored four home victories on the spin in their 2018 World Cup qualifiers and we’re backing them at 4/6 to make it two-from-two in this campaign on Sunday.
Holland v Germany: Holland to win – 11/8
Given their country’s history, The Dutch have never been shy of a renaissance and that’s exactly what seems to be happening to their football team.
After missing out on two major tournaments in-a-row, an influx of youth has seen Holland become probably the most on-form international outfit in world football under the tutelage of Ronald Koeman. They welcome a German side in turmoil on Sunday after Joachim Löw decided to jettison senior stars Mats Hummels, Thomas Müller and Jérôme Boateng before the start of their qualifying campaign.
The Germans lost 3-0 at the Johan Cruyff Arena last October and honestly, you wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar result on Sunday given the trouble in their camp and the form of their hosts – who’ve won four on the bounce in Amsterdam. That’s why a Holland win closes out our treble at 11/8.
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