Monthly Archives: September 2011

Scotland to keep hopes alive

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Scotland (6/4 to win in 90 minutes) manager Craig Levein faces his most important game in charge against the Czech Republic at Hampden on Saturday and he is boosted by the return of some important faces to the side.

Last year in Prague, the manager opted for a surprising 4-6-0 formation – which backfired when they were defeated 1-0 thanks to a header from Roman Hubnik – but there will be no repeat this time around as Scotland strive to get closer to that second spot in the group.

The Tartan Army need maximum points to keep themselves in with a realistic shot of winning a play-off place as runners-up to runaway Group I leaders and world champions Spain, so the return of skipper Darren Fletcher comes at just the right time.

The Manchester United man is going into the game woefully short of fitness – he has only played twice since being hit by a mystery infection back in March – but Scotland are not blessed with many world class midfielders so his guile and determination will be a massive boost.

Levein has also included Charlie Adam (10/1 First Goalscorer) in for his first competitive start and the Liverpool man should add the class and skill to Fletcher’s running to ensure Scotland are really competitive in the middle of the park.

Elsewhere, Alan Hutton is in at right back and Kenny Miller (5/1 First or Last Goalscorer) will start up front alone in what looks a strong Scotland squad on paper. The vast majority of the starting line-up plays in the Premier League, with three from the SPL and only one from the Championship – and that is something Scottish fans have not always been able to boast in recent years.

The Czech Republic (9/5 to win, draw 23/10 90 Minutes) come into this game smarting after a 3-0 friendly defeat to Norway last time out and they are without Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, meaning one of the untested duo of Jan Lastuvka or Jaroslav Drobny will be between the sticks.

There remains some real talent among the Czech ranks with the likes of Arsenal star Tomas Rosicky and former Liverpool man Milan Baros (6/1 First Goalscorer) the real familiar faces to British football fans. Elsewhere though they are full of European pedigree and there is a core of the unit from Czech champions Viktoria Plzen – who recently made it into this season’s Champions League.

Scotland recorded a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic in Levein’s first game in charge back in March 2010, thanks to a goal from Scott Brown who will also start at Hampden on Saturday, and they need to go out confident in search of another victory (5/1 Scotland 1-0 Correct Score).

Nothing but a win for Scotland on Saturday, and also against Lithuania on Tuesday night, will be enough if they want to make the Euro 2012 play-offs. But Levein has a talented squad at his disposal and they should have enough to get wins in both games, especially as the Czechs are not the force they were in the days of Poborsky, Koller and Nedved.

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Can Euro minnows bite back?

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kazakhstan‘There are no easy games in international football any more’ say the experts but can a case really be made for Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, San Marino, Cyprus and Kazakhstan to avoid heavy defeats this weekend?

San Marino (66/1 in Match Betting) are the biggest price on the Totesport international football coupon and, with their 42-match losing streak stretching back to 2004, that looks like a fair assesment of their chances against the World Cup finalists Holland (1/100, Draw 16/1) in Eindhoven.

The tiny principality have improved their home form under Italian coach Giampaolo Mazza recently, going down 1-0 to the visiting Romanian side last month, but their away form still looks rotten – leaving them ripe for a spanking by the Dutch.

San Marino last their two most recent away European Championship qualifiers to Finland and Hungary by the same scoreline 8-0 and, prior to that, were beaten 6-0 by Sweden. A repeat of that mauling is on offer at 8/1 in the Correct Score market.

Luxembourg have also stopped shipping goals at home, although they remain weak on their travels which makes this week’s home clash with low-scoring Romania ripe for a 1-0 away win on the Correct Score front (6/1).

Victor Piturca’s side have scored three goals in their last eight away matches and will surely settle for a solitary goal win at the Stade Josy Barthel.

Liechtenstein are fast-earning a reputation for no longer being among the chief whipping boys of Europe. They almost ended Craig Levein’s Scotland career before it began when the Tartan Army needed a stoppage time Stephen McManus winner to take a 2-1 home win last year and they have won twice since then – away to San Marino and at home against Friday’s opponents Lithuania.

Liechtenstein are too big at 14/1 to record an unlikely double over their group rivals but a safer bet may be for them to hold off the home side until the second half (4/1 Draw/Lithuania in HT/FT).

Andorra, similarly, are no mugs but lack the firepower to seriously trouble better opponents like Armenia this Friday. However with the draw a tasty 5/1 with Totesport, they may be good enough to stop the visitors from claiming all three points at the tiny Estadi Comunal.

Turkey’s home record is good enough to frighten anyone, let alone the minnows they come up against the form of Kazakhstan.

Guus Hiddink’s side have won six and drawn one of their last seven home matches, which includes good wins over Belgium, Romania and the Czech Republic.

But Kazakhstan escaped with only a 4-0 defeat at the hands of a strong-looking German outfit in March and may be in the mood to frustrate a better side again. Turkey 2-0 (11/2) and 3-0 (5/1) look like the most likely scorelines to support in the Correct Score market for this one.

Cyprus and Portugal played out a 4-4 thriller in a coupon-busting Euro 2012 qualifying clash a year ago, but can the minnows go one better and beat Cristiano Ronalo and co on home soil?

The fact that Ronaldo did not play that night in Guimaraes may have had something to do with the result, but clearly the Cypriot attack caused problems for the home defence and they should do again.

Portugal to win 4-1 is on offer at 8/1 while a 5-1 win is a juicy 28/1 – how can you ignore that when Ronaldo remains one of the most potent attackers on the planet – yet the Portuguese defence has conceded five goals in their last four away matches.

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England focus on Group G summit

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With the transfer merry-go-round put on the back-burner for another three months or so, the players can now get their minds back on football and the immediate focus is on the international scene with vital Euro 2012 qualifiers coming up on Friday as England (1/8 Group G Winner) look to maintain their position at the top of their group.

The Three Lions are currently level on points with Montenegro but have a superior goal difference and will be confident of taking maximum points from their trip to Bulgaria (Bulgaria 6/1, Draw 3/1, England 1/2 Match Betting).

Scott Parker has seemingly safe-guarded his future in the national set-up after leaving Championship side West Ham for Tottenham, while another summer transfer target, Gary Cahill, has to now accept that his immediate chances of European football remain with England as he will be staying at Bolton.

England opened their European qualifying campaign last September with a 4-0 success over Friday’s opposition but there are sure to be those who still feel that Capello’s men can be hit and miss.

The 4-0 scoreline may well have been different in the reverse fixture had Stanislav Angelov not missed a one-on-one chance against Joe Hart on the hour before England went straight down the other end to make it 2-0.

Jermain Defoe (6/1 First Goalscorer) scored a hat-trick at Wembley in that win but has struggled with form and injury since, and has yet to open his Premier League account this term – although Spurs have only played two games.

Andy Carroll has yet to score in the Premier League for Liverpool this season (11/0 Anytime Scorer) while England are without Darren Bent, who has pulled out with an injury.

Wayne Rooney sticks out like a sore thumb in the goalscoring markets after a fantastic start to Manchester United’s title defence with five goals in three games – but that is reflected in the betting as he is an 8/11 anytime scorer and 3/1 First or Last.

It may well be worth taking a chance on the bigger prices, depending on how Capello sets up the side, and Ashley Young is in top form following his move to Old Trafford and can be backed at 7/1 to get on the scoresheet.

Bulgaria still have a chance of making it to Euro 2012 but, lying six points behind the group leaders and losing to both earlier in the campaign, they need some big results in their last three games.

After losing those first two games, they have gone unbeaten under new boss Lothar Matthaus but two have been draws, while they have yet to score at home in the campaign.

Their record against England is poor as well as they are yet to taste victory in nine games, losing five, although they have only lost one of three previous games in Sofia.

Ivelin Popov has scored Bulgaria’s only two goals in qualifying to date in the 1-0 win over Wales and the 1-1 draw in Montenegro and is worthy of consideration at 10/1 to open the scoring for those who spy a shock.

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