WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS: The Ultra previews the World Cup Qualifiers on Saturday as England host Andorra and the Republic of Ireland host Hungary both with recommended BETDAQ bets.
ENGLAND V ANDORRA
5pm The World Cup Qualifiers continue on Betdaq Betting Exchange on Saturday! No double all the talking points will be focused around Thomas Tuchel’s England side, but we’re unlikely to learn anything new given they host Andorra. England are much further along in qualification compared to some other top sides given they weren’t involved in the business end of the Nations League. They’ve been gifted an exceptionally easy Group in Group K. Albania, Serbia, Latvia and Andorra are unlikely to trouble Thomas Tuchel – whether or not that is a positive we’ll only find out at a later stage. Tuchel won’t be tested against the bigger sides for quite a while. From an England point of view, all they can do is keep winning – at the end of the day you can only beat what’s in front of you. The gulf in class here is absolutely massive, and that’s reflected in the betting. Indeed, you actually can’t get a shorter price – England come into the game as the 1.01 favourites! The only way they could be shorter is the market is sitting at 1.01 to lay rather than 1.01 to back.
If you fancy a shock – and it would go down as the biggest shock in International football – Andorra are 240.0 and the draw is 65.0 at the time of writing. It’s close to impossible to see past a comfortable win for England here, so we’ll have to look around the side markets for some value. This one is going to be about how many goals England can score rather than will they actually win. From that point of view so far in this Group, they have been a little lacklustre. We’ve had the same complaint from fans as we had under Gareth Southgate that England are boring. They’ve beaten Albania 2-0, Latvia 3-0 and Andorra away only 1-0. Each time they have failed to cover the handicap. The market is expecting one way traffic here with Both Teams Not To Score trading 1.18 – effectively an England clean sheet. I have to say the gulf in class and England not putting sides to the sword recently does make this game tricky for betting – it’s not often we have 1.01 shots in fairness! I’m happy to recommend No Bet here, which happens very rarely!
The Ultra Says:
No Bet.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/EngAnd
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND V HUNGARY
7.45pm We move over to Group F to finish Saturday as Republic of Ireland host Hungary. This is another four team Group which we have been starting this week. You’d have to expect Portugal to top the Group comfortably, and it would be a surprise if Hungary didn’t finish second, Republic of Ireland in third and Armenia in fourth. Ireland have really struggled in recent years; you have to go back a long time for a good moment for Irish football. On paper, although Hungary will be favourites to get that playoff spot in second, Ireland will view this Group as a good opportunity to actually progress – it’s been a while since their fans have had some excitement. For that to happen though, they have to start strongly with a win here. We have a very open betting heat here, Republic of Ireland are favourites at 2.78 with Hungary 2.98 and the draw is 3.2 at the time of writing. I have to say I was a little surprised to see Ireland as the favourites when I clicked into the market. You could say they have made some progress under the new manager, but their general performance level is still very low.
Hungary topped their qualification Group for Euro 2024, they actually came very close to winning a Nations League Group in 2022/23 that had Italy, Germany and England in it which was remarkable at the time. In the last Nations League they finished behind Germany and Netherlands, then unfortunately got relegated in the playoffs against Turkey who are strong at the moment. They have been playing their football at a much higher level than Ireland though, and although the 2.98 is a tempting bet on Hungary I do like the Irish lay at 2.78 to have the draw on our side. Ireland struggled in the last Nations League, only beating Finland twice as they finished behind England and Greece. They only beat Gibraltar in Euro 2024 qualifying, and if you took away the 3-0 win over Scotland in the 2022/23 Nations League, they haven’t had much to shout about. Ireland don’t win often, and I wouldn’t have them as the favourites here. From a value point of view, I’m very happy with the Ireland lay.
The Ultra Says:
Three points lay (liability) Republic of Ireland to beat Hungary at 2.78 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/IreHun
