International Matches - Wed 17th Aug

[kompressaur]

WC Qualifiers
17 Aug-16:00 Latvia v Russia 3.75 3.25 1.83
17 Aug-19:00 Faroe Islands v Cyprus 3.50 3.30 1.90
17 Aug-19:00 FYR Macedonia v Finland 3.30 3.20 2.00
17 Aug-19:15 Liechtenstein v Slovakia 19.00 6.50 1.10
17 Aug-19:30 Romania v Andorra 1.02 8.00 67.00
odds from bet365

Friendlies
Hungary v Argentina 5/1 5/2 1/2
Estonia v Bosnia-Herzegovina 7/5 21/10 8/5
Bulgaria v Turkey 7/5 2/1 17/10
Norway v Switzerland 11/10 11/5 2/1
Denmark v England 9/5 11/5 6/5
Malta v Northern Ireland 4/1 5/2 4/7
Belgium v Greece 11/10 11/5 2/1
Sweden v Czech Republic 6/4 2/1 8/5
Austria v Scotland 4/7 5/2 4/1
Holland v Germany 1/1 11/5 9/4
Rep of Ireland v Italy 8/5 2/1 6/4
Wales v Slovenia 1/1 11/5 9/4
France v Ivory Coast 1/2 13/5 9/2
Croatia v Brazil 5/2 11/5 10/11
Spain v Uruguay 1/2 12/5 11/2
Portugal v Egypt 1/3 3/1 15/2
odds from Victor Chandler (£50 free bets )

[Kiko]

Scotland have taking a pretty weak side to Austria as they are resting all their players whose sides are in Europe so people like Fletcher, Ferguson, Weir, McFadden, Miller, Crawford, Thompson and Murray all rested.

Walter Smith has said himself he isn't happy with the timing of the match and i wouldnt be surprised to see him really change his side with lots of substitions throughout the game which should bode well for the Austrians.

Was hoping for a bit better than 4/7 though

[crowie]

One of the very first golden rules of betting - ignore all international friendlies.

The one game I would have half an opinion on is Wales v Slovenia, being played at Swansea. Slovenia came to Hampden and looked a pretty decent technically good side in a 0-0 draw. They have also beaten Italy 1-0 in Slovenia. A lay of Wales would be a possible option. But considering I couldn't name you probably more than 2 of Slovenia's first 11 then I would have no idea what sort of strength of team they were putting out, much like the rest of these games.

I am not even going to look at these fixtures. Weekend coupon will be getting a full weeks attention this week.

[kompressaur]

Isnt there a few qualifiers amongst them though Crowie? We're World Cup daft you see :loon

[crowie]

Nope, not among that lot there aren't. They are all friendlies.

WC games this week, for Europe, are

Group 1

Macedonia v Finland
Romania v Andorra


Group 2

Kazakhstan v Greece


Group 3

Latvia v Russia
Liechtenstein v Slovakia


Group 4

Faroes v Cyprus

[Beanie]

Scotland squad, after further pull outs this morning, looks very thin:

Goalkeepers: Douglas (Leicester), Gordon (Hearts), Marshall (Celtic)
Defenders: Alexander (Preston), Anderson (Aberdeen), Caldwell (Sunderland), Dailly (West Ham), McNamara (Wolves), Pressley (Hearts), Webster (Hearts)
Midfielders: Hughes (Portsmouth), O'Neil (Preston), Quashie (Southampton), Severin (Aberdeen)
Strikers: Dickov (Blackburn), Miller (Wolves), O'Connor (Hibernian), Riordan (Hibernian).

[crowie]

Jeezus thats a pretty bad squad.

I can see him changing the formation a bit and going 5 at the back.

Gordon

Alexander
Webster
Dailly
Pressley
McNamara

Quashie
O'Neil
Severin

Riordan
Dickov


Could end up being the line up. Surprisingly Austria not that much higher in FIFA rankings than we are.

[kompressaur]

Cheers Crowie added the odds. I quite like the look of Romania

[kompressaur]

Actually Austria have been playing ok fom what i remember. Didnt they beat Wales twice recently and deserve to win too?

[Beanie]

I'll not be doing anything other than a couple of small interest bets on these, although Ukraine might be worth a lay tonight.

They have a very experimental squad for the game, with none of their big European players and very few of the top domestic players. Very poor squad, with only one or two standouts.

Israel are using the game to prepare for their qualifiers and have the full team over, so it'll be tough for the Ukraine I think...a lot tougher than the odds suggest and X2 could be a worthy play.

More later.

[Beanie]

Israel haven't lost this year, and to some good sides too. They'll go out quite defensively it seems, but without Benayoun.

Betfair don't seem to have the game though 1.75 or so to lay on Betdaq.

Various bookies have handicaps available, or the X2. You'd be wanting towards 2.40 on it though.

[trickrick]

Am I missing something here...France at 1/2 to beat the Ivory Coast.. Ok it's a friendly and you always have to tread carefully..However France know they need to improve to qualify during the World Cup and surely this is a moral boosting victory they require.. I would have priced them about 1/4 !!! Not that I know much about Ivory Coast football, but surely they are about 5 tiers down from France.!!! I am tempted with a big bet here, but I would appreciate some argument against doing this!!

[rene]

Holland v Germany 1/1 11/5 9/4

DC ... !!!!!!!!

the DFB Team

[traeth]

Originally Posted by kompressaur

Actually Austria have been playing ok fom what i remember. Didnt they beat Wales twice recently and deserve to win too?

true komp outplayed Wales twice with wins home and away
their last game was their home draw against England
But they did lose at home to table toppers Poland before the England match - if 4/7 for austria is still available it looks a good price to me .

The Welsh team are in a rebuilding mode with Tosh experimenting - so if Slovinia have a reasonable team i can see them beating my side.Most fans in Wales do not care about any other match apart from that Sept 3rd visit of England - now that Wales are out of contention for 2nd place

[crowie]

Originally Posted by trickrick

Not that I know much about Ivory Coast football, but surely they are about 5 tiers down from France.!!!

Kolo Toure
Kalou of PSG, ex Feyenoord
Drogba
Dindane of Lens, ex Anderlecht


All decent players. Won't be a walk in the park for France I can assure you, mind you none of their games are nowadays.

Ivory Coast squad HERE

Worst thing you can do in these games, especially when you don't know much about the opposition, is assuming they are pish because you haven't heard of them. Ivory Coast are currently winning African Group 3 in the WC Qualifying, ahead of both Egypt and Cameroon. Now neither of those would be ranked 5 tiers below France would they?

Group HERE