Ireland to find it difficult without key players: Ireland’s game tonight is a really difficult one for me, obviously my heart is with Ireland in the game, but I think it will be really tough for the team against Bosnia. Without key players like Walters, Long and Keane in the side, there really isn’t many goals in this team. Ireland need to be able to keep a clean sheet in this game if they are to have any chance, where we could possible nick a goal to bring back to Dublin.
I have a sneaky feeling that Wes Hoolahan could grab his first Ireland goal tonight. He is always the type of player who is looked upon to create goals, but tonight without the aforementioned players, I think there could be an added pressure on him to grab a goal. His record with Norwich will show that he does have an eye for goal, he is a very tidy player with good feet, and he likes to get in and around the 18 yard box.
Although this is the hope, I don’t feel very positive on our chances of getting a win. I think that Martin O’Neill will set the team up for a draw, in a very disciplined 4-5-1 formation. His mind-set tonight will be to get the side back to Dublin with a draw and we can take their chances at home with the likes of Walters back.
I think under 1.5 goals is the bet to go for in this one, as there is not really much value in under 2.5 goals, and this game is really set up for a low scoring affair as Ireland are not a team who will concede a large amount, but they will not be a huge threat going forward tonight.
Team to Progress Versus Individual
I fancy Denmark to qualify from this playoff, they have got a really good side, and always have. They just need to contain Sweden somewhat tonight and I feel they have the beating of this Sweden team. The Danes have always been a difficult side to beat historically and I don’t see this team to be any different than the past. They have quality all over the pitch in this team.
Of course Sweden have Zlatan Ibrahimovic in their team, so naturally they can never be ruled out of any match. Apart from Ronaldo and Portugal, I don’t think there is any single player who has had more of an impact on their side’s fortunes than Ibrahimovic. He has been one of the top players in the world for the past few years. Outside of Ibrahimovic however, I don’t see huge quality in the rest of the side. Bar one or two others on the team, most aren’t playing top flight football at the moment. I am going for a quality team ahead of individual brilliance this weekend, and backing Denmark.
Spain Too Strong for England
I think England will be going with a fairly experimental team against Spain tonight. There will be a lot of guys getting an opportunity in this game, I expect Ross Barkley to start in the middle, and think we will be seeing the inform Vardy up front. I think Spain will do something similar, but the difference is they have so much more strength in depth.
Outside of what happened in Brazil last year, which was truly bizarre with the way they played, you have to look at this Spain team and think man for man they are way above most teams in Europe. That may even be an understatement. They have so much quality all over the pitch, no matter who they decide to play. Even if they were to play their young guns, I still think they have the beating of England. I see tonight being a very difficult evening for England, they will see very little of the ball, and will be up against better quality players in many areas of the pitch.
Netherlands to Test Younger Generation
I’m looking at the price for the Wales and Netherlands game, and find it amazing that the Netherlands are such a low price for the win. I don’t understand how a team who has failed to qualify for Euro 2016 is so heavily favoured against a team that was largely impressive in qualifying for the event. Although Bale and Ramsey have a big effect on Wales, I still can’t see the reasoning for the prices to be where they are.
The Netherlands team were very poor throughout the qualifying campaign, in what was a very favourable group for them to cruise through. There is no way that Blind will be sticking with the old guard for this game, the likes of Sneijder, Van Persie etc. They failed miserably throughout the campaign, so there is no reason to believe management will stick with them going forward. This is going to be very much a trial team, to see what quality lies in the more youthful Dutch players. I am unsure of the quality of the youth in the Netherlands at the moment, if they were that good, more of them would have been playing previously when you consider how underwhelming the side was in its qualification attempt. There are players like Memphis, who has been struggling to find consistent form with United, and Blind has doubted his effort level previously. Outside of this I don’t see the same level of talent as years past.
For this reason, I think Laying the Dutch is the way to go for this. Without Bale and Ramsey, I wouldn’t fancy backing Wales, but they will be very good defensively and with the more experimental Dutch side I certainly would not be backing them.
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