The UEFA Nations League is back and Paddy Power have got you covered with a tasty treble to keep things interesting on Thursday night.
Our expert football trader Brian McDonnell has backed wins for Ireland and fellow ‘home nation’ Wales along with Kosovo.
Ireland to beat Bulgaria
The first leg of the treble is Ireland to beat Bulgaria. I’ve got quite a lot of optimism here at the moment and we’re about to embark on a new positive era under Stephen Kenny.
We’ve got some exciting young players coming through the senior team, and 16 of this squad will be playing their football in the Premier League this coming season and that’s the most an Irish squad has had for many years, by a long stretch.
The team will be playing for places in the Euro 2020 qualifier against Slovakia next month. On paper, we’re much better than this Bulgaria side who have had a poor run of form the last couple of years.
I think Ireland will keep it tight at the back, as always, and will be a bit more expansive going forward. With that Premier League quality, they should find the goals to get Stephen Kenny’s side off to a winning start.
Kosovo to beat Moldova
Second leg of the treble I’m going to go with Kosovo to beat Moldova. I think they should be the No 1 team in your accas this week. They’re playing away to Moldova but Moldova have had to give up home advantage. The game will actually be played in Italy. Moldova have lost eight games on the trot and they’re real minnows of international football.
Kosovo, on the other hand, strolled through their Nations League campaign last time out. They were unbeaten in six games and only conceded two goals before doing very well in their Euro qualification campaign.
They finished ahead of Bulgaria and Montenegro and beat the Czech Republic in that campaign as well. They scored three goals away to England, and they have players scattered around the top teams in Europe. Captain Amir Rrahmani plays for Napoli and they’re going to be far too strong for this Moldovan side.
More Tips:
- Our 14/1 Same Game Multi for Ireland’s trip to Bulgaria
- Our 10/1 four-leg acca for the rest of Thursday’s International action
- Our 3 best bets as Wales travel to Finland tonight
- Expect Spain to stun Germany in their own back yard tonight
Wales to beat Finland
The final leg of the treble is Wales to beat Finland. Like Ireland, I think Wales will be too strong for their hosts.
Finland have had a good spell in recent years and Teemu Pukki was obviously all the talk this time last year with his great start to the season in the Premier League. He was the Championship’s top goalscorer the season before but his goals did dry up and he went over 12 games at the end of the season without a goal. If Wales keep him quiet, Finland will struggle to score goals.
Wales will arguably have the freshest player on the pitch in Gareth Bale, who played very little for Real Madrid once La Liga returned. Neco Williams is also in line for his debut while Ryan Giggs has had a great start with a win ratio of just under 50 per cent. With odds against, I think that’s a great price to add to your accas and this treble.
- We’ve got a Paddy Power News special on a treble of Ireland, Kosovo and Wales wins tonight
*All odds are always bang up to date in our clever betting widgets
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