Montenegro v Switzerland
Montenegro sit on maximum points in Group G with two wins from two games and two clean sheets. In Milan Jovanovic and Marko Vucinic, they have two talented attackers, but are still without star player, Stevan Jovetic. Whilst they maintain a 100% winning record, the games with Wales was a very poor quality encounter, and Bulgaria are a team in disarray at the moment. With only 2 defeats in 13 home games, they are a difficult team to play against.
With Switzerland, you know what to expect. They will not score many, but will be difficult to break down. However, only 2 wins in 11 games recently has seen pressure mount on the national side, although one of those victories was against the world champions Spain. They tend to be fairly strong away from home and played well against England until being reduced to ten men.
The bookmakers seem to have overreacted to Montenegro’s start, and the Swiss will be a difficult proposition for them. In Xherdan Shaqiri, the Swiss have a potential match winner, although it is likely to be a low-scoring tight affair.
Bet: Switzerland DNB @ 2.0 (7/10)
Andorra v FYR Macedonia
Despite not winning, Andorra have been improving rapidly in recent times. Twenty-six straight defeats is hardly unexpected, but they have only lost by more than 2 goals at home twice in the last 10 games, against Ukraine and Latvia. During that time, they have also played Russia twice, Croatia and England. In their last match against the Republic of Ireland, they even managed to get on the score sheet, their first goal in six matches.
Macedonia have been poor recently, drawing at home with Armenia and an away draw with Malta. Their attack is weak at the moment, and the defence is suspect. Whilst they are favourites for this match, they have bad memories of this ground, having the record of being the last team that Andorra beat in international football, back in 2004.
Andorra should fancy themselves to keep this relatively tight, and may even fancy themselves to nick a goal. It will be difficult, but there is an outside chance of an upset here.
Bet: Andorra Double Chance @ 5 (2/10)
Bet: Andorra +2.5AH (7/10)
Germany v Turkey
Germany were the surprise package at the World Cup in South Africa, destroying teams with their pacy attacking football. They have started qualification with two wins, including hitting six past Azerbaijan. However, Bastian Schweinsteiger is out injured, which is a huge blow, as he was one of the star players at the World Cup, both in attack and defence. He will be replaced by Toni Kroos, who needs to play well.
Turkey have also started with two wins, following up a win in Kazakhstan with a victory over the Belgians. They will have huge support in Berlin, with as many as 30,000 Turks expected out of a crowd of 75k. They will be hoping to attack the Germans in the hopes of grabbing an early goal, particularly with a number of the German players having started the season poorly at club level.
The Germans are rightly favourites for this game, but the loss of their captain is a big blow. The excellent support for the Turks may also drive them to raise their level for this game. They have improved a lot under Guus Hiddink, who will fancy his team to test the Germans.
Bet: Turkey +1 @ 2.1 (5/10)
Republic of Ireland v Russia
After coming so close to beating the French, Ireland now believe it is time to qualify for a major tournament again. They have started solidly with two wins against Armenia and Andorra, but the Russians will be their first major test. The Irish don’t tend to concede too many as one might expect under Trapattoni, but scoring goals is also an issue. Only six of their last 17 games has contained more than 2 goals.
Russia were a surprising omission from the World Cup, after losing to Slovenia in the playoffs. After the departure of Guus Hiddink, they have struggled somewhat, losing at home to Slovakia in their last game. Roman Pavlyuchenko will miss this game and the Russians are the best travellers, having only won 1 of their last 4 away games, including draws with Hungary and Azerbaijan, as well as the defeat in Slovenia.
There are unlikely to be many goals in this one, but Ireland will fancy themselves to sneak a win, and put themselves in pole position for qualification for Euro 2012.
Bet: Under 2.5 goals @ 1.6 (5/10)
Bet: Ireland DNB @ 1.85 (6/10)
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