EURO QUALIFIERS: The Ultra previews the Euro Qualifiers featuring Republic Of Ireland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland on Monday all with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND V GIBRALTAR
7.45pm We have another busy night of Euro 2024 qualifying on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE on Monday! Republic of Ireland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are all back in action after varied results on Friday night. We start the evening with Republic of Ireland hosting Gibraltar under huge pressure domestically. They were always going to be up against it in this Group including France and Netherlands, but a loss away to Greece means this game is basically to decide who finishes bottom of the Group. Obviously Ireland finishing behind Gibraltar would be hugely embarrassing for Ireland and it’s unlikely to happen, but they can forget about qualifying already. There has been a lot of reaction in the Irish media, but the reality was Greece were heavy favourites to win with home advantage – perhaps it was more the performance which was very limited. Manager Stephen Kenny has a huge support domestically from League of Ireland fans, but that’s about it at the moment – once the cracks start to show in that support then maybe his days are numbered.
Ireland are in a very poor position here. They “need” to win against a very limited side in Gibraltar, and the players come into this game battered after a long hard season. On paper, it’s an easy game but it’s just not an ideal situation to be in. One wonders what the home atmosphere will be like too. The FAI sold tickets as a bundle with bigger games, so we should have a good crowd, if they didn’t do that we would have had a very low crowd! In betting terms, anything bar an Ireland win would be a massive shock – they are trading the shortest price of the night! The home win is currently 1.04, which reflects the poor level on Gibraltar. The question here is how many goals can Ireland score, and to be honest they sometimes struggle against sides who sit back and put XI men behind the ball. It’s hard to see anything bar an Irish win, but Gibraltar can keep the score line respectable as Ireland struggle to create chances. Under 3.5 goals is worth a small bet at 2.16.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Under 3.5 goals at 2.16 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/IreGib
ENGLAND V NORTH MACEDONIA
7.45pm Next we move to Group C where things have been going perfectly for England so far. They have got off to the perfect start with three wins from three games, including a massive win away to Italy. They barely got out of first gear to win 4-0 away to Malta on Friday night, and they come into this game as heavy favourites again. England are trading as short as 1.15 at the time of writing with North Macedonia 26.0 and the draw is 9.0. It’s very hard to see anything bar an England win here, and this is a case of how many goals England can score rather than will they win in my opinion. Everyone will remember the famous scenes as North Macedonia knocked Italy out of the World Cup Playoffs, and that is their current claim to fame! They could only beat Malta by one goal with home advantage in March, and then lost on Friday with home advantage to Sweden. There’s a huge gulf in class between the sides here, and it’s hard to see North Macedonia being able to stop this England attack. You could say they’ll have very negative tactics but that’s not in their nature either.
With England trading so short in the match odds market, this one is all about looking for value in the sides markets. England opened the scoring within ten minutes against Malta on Friday, and if they get an early goal here then they can clock up another big score line. As I highlighted on Friday night, England have won 5-0, 4-0, 4-0, 5-0, 5-0 and 10-0 in World Cup qualifying. There’s no reason why they can’t have a similar record qualifying here, except for Italy of course! We landed Any Other Away Win on Friday night in the Correct Score market, and Any Other Home Win (England to score four or more and win) looks great value here at 3.3. England are full of confidence at the moment and North Macedonia leak enough goals to make the 3.3 very appealing.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Any Other Home Win at 3.3 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/EngNor
TURKEY V WALES
7.45pm It’s been an interesting few days for Wales. Maybe the reality of losing Gareth Bale is hitting now. They lost 4-2 to Armenia with home advantage on Friday night; shipping four goals was a massive shock, whatever about losing. That’s put them in a very poor position now after they started qualifying with a huge 1-1 draw away to Croatia. The general feeling in this Group is that Croatia will top it and it will be a battle between Turkey and Wales for second. The draw away to Croatia definitely gave Wales the edge there, but the loss against Armenia in Cardiff completely blew them away from their strong position. They have to re-group quickly now, and face a very difficult fixture here away to Turkey. As expected, Croatia have already beaten Turkey in March but two wins elsewhere mean they top the Group with six points. Croatia and Wales are next, but Wales have played one more game with Croatia involved in the Nations League Final at the weekend. Turkey comes into the game as the odds on favourites, they are trading 1.92 at the time of writing with Wales 5.0 and the draw is 3.55.
It’s hard to have much faith in Wales after the performance on Friday. I had a small bet on Under 2.5 goals, thinking Wales would struggle to create chances and eventually grind out a 1-0 or 2-0 win. I wasn’t expecting them to concede four goals! Conceding goals has been a massive issue for them recently – they went on a long run without a clean sheet and now that they haven’t got Bale to produce a moment of magic at the other end of the pitch you can really see them struggling. A draw would be a good result for them; obviously with Turkey odds on! It’s hard to see Wales keeping a clean sheet, but Turkey conceded against Armenia and Latvia – I know both of those games were away from home so I’m going to keep stakes small here, however Both Teams To Score looks worth a small bet at 2.04. I know Wales haven’t got much star quality up front, but we should have an open game here.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Both Teams To Score at 2.04 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/TurWal
NORTHERN IRELAND V KAZAKHSTAN
7.45pm We finish Monday night by going to Group H as Northern Ireland host Kazakhstan. Northern Ireland lost 1-0 away to Denmark on Friday night, but there was dramatic scenes as VAR ruled out a late equaliser for Northern Ireland. That would have been a bitter pill to swallow after all the joy when the ball went in! Northern Ireland were always up against it in this Group, but they are on the backfoot with only one win from their three games. This looks like it could be a very interesting Group as Denmark, Kazakhstan, Finland and Slovenia all have six points after two games. You’d expect Denmark to top the Group, but obviously it’s wide open for second place. Kazakhstan also have the luxury of already being assured of a playoff place after their Nations League finish. Northern Ireland come into the game as the odds on favourites at 1.62 with Kazakhstan 6.8 and the draw is 3.85. I have to say the 1.62 feels very short on first look, Kazakhstan have improved a lot recently.
Kazakhstan topped their Nations League Group at the C level, same as Northern Ireland. They were in a Group with Slovakia, Azerbaijan and Belarus – obviously not a fantastic level but we have to compare it to the level Northern Ireland are at. Northern Ireland came very close to getting relegated from a C Group with Greece, Kosovo and Cyprus – they finished on the same amount of points as Cyprus at the bottom of the Group with five points from their six games. I fully respect the fact that Northern Ireland are a much better side with home advantage, and they played very well on Friday against Denmark but I just can’t have them as short as 1.62 here. I fully expect a closer game than the odds suggest, and I’m very happy with a 1.62 lay on Northern Ireland.
The Ultra Says:
Three points lay (liability) Northern Ireland to beat Kazakhstan at 1.62 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/NirKaz
