It's been over a week since I wrote a blog so I thought I'd put up some matches I fancy in the midweek Euro 2012 qualifiers. You lot might think they're obvious or not your thing, but I writes the blog so you'll have to lump it I'm afraid! Normal service will be resumed this weekend for the Premier League and I'll try to put out some lower league tips and some foreign league tips in 2 seperate blogs if possible. Here goes with the internationals...
Switzerland v England, Tuesday 1945
Well, well, well, here we go again. It looks like Fabio has got it right again for now and has England beating the teams worse than England. Contrary to what a lot of England's media seem to think this is no bad thing, England are somewhere between 8th and 15th in the world as far as I'm concerned and should not be expected to dish out beatings to those better than them. Rant over for now! Before seeing 'England's brave Lionhearted boys TM' dispatch Bulgaria I might have layed them in this. They were fairly impressive in spells though and I would expect them to again get the job done. Saying that though I wouldn't back them at odds on away to a very obdurate Swiss side that beat Spain not long ago. I think the bet is under 2.5 goals here, take the 23/20 at bet365 for that.
Belarus v Romania, Tuesday 1830
This isn't a reaction to them beating France as Belarus have been steadily improving over the last decade and should be respected. Romania are languishing at the moment and failed to beat Albania at home on Friday. Whilst they used to have players in major leagues all over Europe like Hagi and Popescu, Christian Chivu is their most famous export now. Anywhere in Eastern Europe is a hard test for an away team and on the back of a poor performance from Romania and with Belarus on a high from beating France in France I'd back them again. They are widely available at 6/4 and I'll be taking those odds.
Norway v Portugal, Tuesday 1930
The greasy, permatanned swine from Portugal failed to beat the greasy, permatanned swine from Cyprus on Friday and Norway picked up a useful win in Iceland after falling behind. Portugal have been on the slide since Euro 2004 I think and looked bereft of invention at the World Cup with the greasiest, cheating, whining twat in football looking out of sorts (a Mr C. Ronaldo for those wondering). He isn't even playing in these matches as he is nursing an injury. Carlos Queiroz has also been suspended from management too, leaving the whole set up in a bit of a pickle to say the least. Norway have beaten France recently as well as that trip to Iceland for a Scandinavian derby and a good win. They should be ready for this one as they have had a pretty settled team for years now and any team with 'Big' John Carew is always likely to be a threat to a bunch of hissy-fitting tarts like Portugal. With odds of over 2/1 still available on Norway I'd say this is the bet of the night! Bodog are best at 11/5 and I'd advise you have a bit of that action.
Turkey v Belgium, Tuesday 1900
This one is a long odds shot, but one I would say is worth considering. Here we have 2 teams that I think are moving in opposite directions. Turkey have moved backwards since their stunning 3rd place finish at the 2002 Japorea World Cup. They have no longer got any exceptional players and their national league is struggling too, no matter how much money is being thrown at it to try and entice new players in. Belgium on the other hand are moving forwards having been in the doldrums for a long time now, since the early 90's I'd say. Players like Eden Hazard of Lille and Roman Lukaklu of Anderlecht are being monitored by the biggest clubs in Europe and Standard Liege and Anderlecht are performing admirably in UEFA competitions too. They're a team on the up. Turkey laboured to a 3-0 win against Europe's second weakest team Kazakhstan on Friday and Belgium only lost 1-0 to Germany in Germany. Belgium have a solid defence and exciting attackers and the 5/1 at William Hill looks too big to me. I'd definitely take a smaller stakes punt on it.
That's it for now, these games tend to be short priced as there really is some horrendous teams these days. I would look to include Albania, Czech Republic and Austria in any acca's if that's your bag too.
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