Football tips: Our acca-insured 22/1 punt for Wednesday’s international action

Paddy Power tipster Paddy Murphy has picked his four best bets

Antoine Griezmann Luka Modric Cristiano Ronaldo

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while in-copy odds are accurate at the time of publication but subject to change

Qualification for the 2022 Qatar World Cup kicks off on Wednesday evening in Europe. We’re going to look at four of the most interesting best-of-the-rest matches to find a hump-busting value Acca. Let’s have a look at what we’ve dug up in the betting markets.

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17.00: Turkey v Netherlands – Netherlands to Win and Both Teams To Score

Both Turkey and Netherland don’t come into their opening Group G match in the greatest of form. The Turks have won just one of their last five matches, losing one and drawing three. The Dutch have won two of their five most previous matches, drawing the other three. At home Turkey have also won just one of their last five, losing one and drawing three as well

The Dutch have won two and drawn three of their last five on the road but have, arguably, faced tougher opposition than Turkey. They beat Belarus and Poland on their travels, drawing with Northern Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy. The Dutch have the stronger side on paper here and the market has heavily backed them into short-odds favourites, but Turkey rarely go a home game without a goal. They’ve scored at least one in nine of their last 11 and, with the Dutch keeping just one clean sheet over their last seven matches, they should get on the scoresheet. The value here is with Netherlands to Win & BTTS.

19.45: France v Ukraine – France to Win and Over 2.5 Goals

France have a particularly strong-looking squad going into their opening Group D match. Their midfield and attacking positions are the envy of Europe but their defence is a tad on the inexperienced side of things and no doubt opposition managers will be telling their players to target certain individuals as the campaign wears on.

This Ukranian side were hammered 7-1 in a friendly match in France last October and will surely be looking to restore some pride here. Since that match they’ve played five, losing four and winning one – losing to Germany twice, Poland and Switzerland as well but beating a Spanish side in Kiev which came as a huge shock.

Over 2.5 goals has landed in six out of France’s last nine at home and in seven out of Ukraine’s eight most previous on the road. This French squad includes just too much talent for this Ukranian side and while they should improve under manager Andriv Shevchenko, France should have more than enough to come out on top here and put a few past his side’s defence.

19.45: Portugal v Azerbaijan – Portugal to Win and Over 3.5 Goals

Portugal manager Fernando Santos would probably be forgiven if he were to call up a second-string squad for this match, but no doubt it will be used as a training match for trying out some new formations and tactics.

The big news is that Cristiano Ronaldo has made the trip to join up with his compatriots and really you have to feel sorry for the away side here. Facing the likes of Ronaldo, Joao Felix, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes would be the stuff of nightmares. It’s going to be a long match for the away side and the home team will be eager to get their first Group A match off to the best possible start. We’re going with Portugal to Win and Over 3.5 Goals here.

19.45: Slovenia v Croatia – Both Teams to Score

Slovenia’s form looks pretty good, as they’re unbeaten over their last six matches, winning four and drawing two. Croatia’s 2020 was pretty awful – they won just two of their eight matches, drawing one and losing five. But when comparing both sides we have to factor in that Slovenia played most of those matches in Group C of the Nations League while Croatia were fighting it out in Group A.

Saying that, Slovenia will take much confidence from their recent good form and indeed, their home form is even more impressive where they’ve only lost one of their last 12 matches, scoring at least one in nine of those 11. Croatia have the far better squad here and the market has backed them into short enough odds but we’re liking the look of Both Teams To Score. Croatia have kept just one clean sheet over their 12 away matches since the last World Cup and we’re getting good value on the odds here for BTTS.

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while in-copy odds are accurate at the time of publication but subject to change

FIFA World Cup qualifier bet summary – Wednesday, March 24

17.00: Turkey v Netherlands – Netherlands to Win and Both Teams To Score
19.45: France v Ukraine – France to Win and Over 2.5 Goals
19.45: Portugal v Azerbaijan – Portugal to Win and Over 3.5 Goals
19.45: Slovenia v Croatia – Both Teams to Score

All four of these picks in a four-fold Acca will give you odds of 22/1

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