EURO 2024 QUALIFIERS: The Ultra previews GIBRALTAR v REPUBLIC OF IRELAND and BELGIUM v SWEDEN both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
GIBRALTAR V REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
7.45pm The Euro 2024 Qualifiers rumble onwards, and we focus on action from Group B and Group F to start the week on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE. Another loss for Ireland on Friday night at home to Greece piled more pressure on manager Stephen Kenny, and anything bar an impressive win here against Gibraltar will probably pile more pressure on – even a 1-0 or 2-0 win might still see the manager’s position questioned. Probably the only thing keeping him in the job at the moment is his support at the grass roots level and the League of Ireland. There’s no other way to describe Ireland at the moment other than dreadful. Their results have been very poor, and it’s another bitterly disappointing qualifying campaign. Not many fans would have expected them to beat the likes of France and the Netherlands, but two losses against Greece just highlights Ireland are going backwards at the moment. Their Nations League campaign was very poor too. They will be expected to win here; anything bar a win would be a massive shock but it’s hard to have confidence in Ireland at the moment.
As you would expect, Ireland are the exceptionally heavy favourites. They are trading 1.08 at the time of writing with Gibraltar 62.0 and the draw is 16.0. I know that’s a very short price, but it’s also a sign of the times for Ireland and how the market is questioning them even getting the job done – in times past they would be 1.02 or 1.03 here. The only question would be how many goals can they score. I would seriously worry about Ireland getting the job done here; they just struggle to create chances at the moment and Gibraltar will have XI men behind the ball too. It will be an odds atmosphere in Faro in Portugal, and while you’d have to expect Ireland to win I can’t see them being impressive. Ireland met Gibraltar in Euro 2020 qualifying too, and could only beat them 1-0 away from home. I expect Gibraltar to keep the score line respectable here too, and Under 3.5 goals looks a very nice bet at 3.5. It’s been a while since Ireland scored that many, and they lack creativity in their squad so it would be a surprise if we saw lots of goals here. I wouldn’t even rule out a 0-0!
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Under 3.5 goals at 1.77 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/GibIre
BELGIUM V SWEDEN
7.45pm Next we move to Group F to finish Monday night as Belgium host Sweden. It’s been a case of so far so good for Belgium in qualifying so far. They top the Group and are unbeaten after six games. Of course, we’ve all been here before; Belgium have been absolutely excellent in qualifying so many times before fluffing their lines when they get to the major tournament. They were always going to top this Group, and Sweden will be disappointed not to be closer to Austria in second to be honest. It looks like the top two in this Group is already locked in unless we see a major shock here and Sweden win. The market doesn’t see that happening though, and Belgium come into the game as the odds on favourites. They are currently trading 1.75 with Sweden 5.7 and the draw is 3.95 at the time of writing. Belgium beat Sweden 3-0 away from home thanks to a Lukaku hat-trick, and it’s hard to see past the home win here. Sweden are currently seven points behind Austria, so the best they can hope for realistically is a playoff spot due to rankings and results. At the moment, they’ll probably come up short there too. They were relegated in the Nations League from a B Group that included Serbia, Norway and Slovenia.
It’s been very hard to fault Belgium so far in qualifying. The only time they’ve dropped points was a 1-1 draw with Austria which is absolutely fine too. As I said above, Belgium in qualifying are different gravy; you can usually set your watch by them! Sweden have struggled for a while now – they were brushed aside in the World Cup qualifying playoffs, then poor in the Nations League and they’ve dropped plenty of points already in this Group. They were comfortably beaten twice by Austria, and then of course the 3-0 Belgium win when Sweden at home advantage. I just can’t see past a Belgium win here and I was very surprised to see them trading as high as 1.75 when I clicked into the market. Usually I like to keep stakes relatively small in qualifying, but I feel we’re getting so much value here the 1.75 is worth a Max Bet.
The Ultra Says:
Five points win Belgium to beat Sweden at 1.75 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/BelSwe
