Spain v Romania: Spain (-2) – 7/5
Romania’s two-goal defeat to Sweden on Friday night has left this game feeling very flat.
What felt like it could have been a do or die game now means absolutely nothing.
The Romanians now have to travel to Spain – where their hosts boast a 100% winning record in qualifying – and simply hope that they can make it into the play-offs via the absurd Nations League permutations.
Going to Spain is tough at the best of times, but playing there after suffering such a devastating defeat is a very dangerous prospect.
The Spanish boasted an experimental team – and seven different goalscorers – in their 7-0 thrashing of Malta on Friday and will surely be in the mood again on Monday.
They have scored 16 goals and conceded just once in four home qualifiers and should show a voracious appetite for goals yet again on Monday night.
Liechtenstein v Bosnia: Liechtenstein (+2) – 15/8
The fact that Bosnia managed to top their Nations League group gets more unbelievable with every passing qualifier. They have been abject to the point of embarrassment thus far and currently sit fifth in a relatively easy group comprised of the likes of Finland, Greece and Armenia.
Only Monday night’s opponents Liechtenstein sit below them in the group and, given their performances on the road in qualifying – a win is not a foregone conclusion against the minnows.
Bosnia have lost all four of their away games in qualifying, despite being the second seed in the group. They have gone down with a whimper in Group J and seem to have placed all of their eggs in the basket of Nations League playoffs, which is a risky strategy given that every potential opponent will desperately want to draw them now.
They have written off qualifying via the conventional route long ago and don’t seem to care much about saving face.
It could be the most embarrassing night of all on Monday against lowly Liechtenstein, who have managed credible draws against Greece and Armenia. The draws are particularly credible when you consider that, at 181st, they are the fourth lowest-ranked European team in the FIFA World Rankings.
Bosnia should avoid a humiliating draw or defeat, but they could struggle all the same.
Italy v Armenia: Italy (-2) – 7/5
Italy have taken advantage of the poor quality in Group J to qualify at their ease. The Italians have recovered from their failure to qualify for the World Cup in Russia last year by easing to nine wins out of nine in qualifying for Euro 2020.
They will want to make that 10 victories out of 10 on Monday, no matter the irrelevance of the fixture.
It is just natural for a team to want to round off a job well done, especially in front of their home fans. They should do it with a bit to spare too.
Armenia have been eliminated from the qualifying equation and can’t even qualify for the Nations League playoffs.
They will be winding down following an unsuccessful campaign against an Italian side in a celebratory mood in Palermo. It can only go one way.
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