Not only do we have a World Heavyweight boxing title fight this weekend between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, but we also have the third place match and then final of the Nations League taking place in Italy on Sunday.
Spain will take on either France or Belgium in the final, depending on who wins tonight’s second semi final, after the Spaniards defeated hosts Italy 2-1 in Milan last night, thanks to two goals from Manchester City’s Ferran Torres.
However, before then on Friday and Saturday, we have Matchday 7 of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in Europe to look forward to. While the four teams competing in the Nations League final stages are not involved, the rest of European football’s big guns most definitely are.
And some of them have some very tough games coming up which could decide whether or not they make it through to the World Cup Finals.
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And you don’t even need to be in Europe to enjoy a wager on the games taking place across the continent this week. If you are based in the United States then BetRivers Sportsbook offers a fantastic array of bets on the games.
Let’s now take a look at the games taking place across Matchday 7.
World Cup Qualifiers – Matchday 7
Friday 8th October
- Czech Republic v Wales
- Estonia v Belarus
- Gibraltar v Montenegro
- Russia v Slovakia
- Cyprus v Croatia
- Latvia v Netherlands
- Liechtenstein v North Macedonia
- Iceland v Armenia
- Turkey v Norway
- Germany v Romania
- Malta v Slovenia
From the home nations perspective, the big game on Friday evening is Wales clash with
the Czech Republic in Prague. The Czech’s are ahead of the Welsh in the group behind Belgium, but both teams have seven points with the Czech’s playing a game more. Therefore, this game is going to be crucial in deciding which of these two teams stands a chance of finishing second in the group behind Belgium.
With the Welsh facing Belgium in their last game, this is a game which they cannot afford to lose, especially after a disappointing 0-0 home draw with Estonia last time out.
Other key games come in Group G where Norway and Turkey face off with both involved in a battle with the Netherlands for the top two spots in Group G. Meanwhile in Group H, Russia, Croatia and Slovakia are all battling it out for a place in the top two.
Finally, in Group J, a win for Germany would put them in a very strong position in the group as they already hold a four point gap over second place Armenia, who face a tricky trip to Iceland on the same night.
Friday Night Top Tips
Outlined below are my top tips for Friday night’s games in the World Cup Qualifiers, all odds provided by bet365 Sport and were correct as of 12pm on Thursday 7th October.
- Patrick Schick – Anytime Goalscorer – Czech Republic v Wales – 6/4
- Serge Gnabry – First Goalscorer – Germany v Romania – 7/2
- Turkey v Norway – Draw – 12/5
- Russia to beat Slovakia by a 2-1 scoreline – 8/1
Let’s now look ahead to the games taking place on Saturday, which includes crucial games for a number of the home nations and Ireland.
Saturday 9th October
- Kazakhstan v Bosnia and Herzegovina (2pm)
- Lithuania v Bulgaria (2pm)
- Azerbaijan v Republic of Ireland (5pm)
- Sweden v Kosovo (5pm)
- Finland v Ukraine (5pm)
- Scotland v Israel (5pm)
- Georgia v Greece (5pm)
- Faroe Islands v Austria
- Luxembourg v Serbia
- Hungary v Albania
- Andorra v England
- Moldova v Denmark
- Poland v San Marino
- Switzerland v Northern Ireland
There are a few more games to enjoy on Saturday and there are games with more
interest to British and Ireland based fans. First up is the Republic of Ireland who are already out of contention in their group, but they will be building for the Euro 2024 qualifiers and a trip to Azerbaijan to take on the team that drew with them back in Dublin is going to be a big test for this inexperienced team.
Another huge game for British fans comes at 5pm as Scotland take on their familiar foes Israel in what is a crucial game in Group F. This will be the seventh time the teams have met in the past couple of years and although Scotland beat them on penalties to reach the finals of Euro 2020, it is Israel that have had the better of things, especially on home soil.
However, with both teams chasing Denmark for second spot in Group F, they know that a win here would be huge towards that goal, while a draw would mean that Austria could well come back into contention for that second place spot.
England should not have too many problems against Andorra, even with a number of first team players seemingly out with injury. A win for England there would move them very close to finishing top of Group I and securing their place in the finals in December 2022 in Qatar.
The results of the games involving Albania, Hungary and Poland will also go a long way towards deciding who will finish likely second behind the Three Lions over the next couple of match days too.
Lastly, Northern Ireland face a must win game against the Swiss in Switzerland if they are to have any chance of finishing in second spot in Group C behind Italy. However, the Swiss are a very strong side at home and it does look unlikely that they will drop more points here. Two wins for the Swiss in the next two group games would see them draw level on points with Italy and set up a very interesting finale in that group.
Saturday’s Top Tips
As for Friday, I’ve picked my top tips for Saturday’s games and they are outlined below:
- Mikkel Damsgaard to score anytime – Moldova v Denmark – 13/10
- England to beat Andorra 3-0 – 9/2
- Scotland to beat Israel 2-1 – 8/1
- Hungary to beat Albania – 19/20
Remember too that there is Matchday 8 in the European World Cup Qualifiers coming up on Monday and Tuesday next week with the following fixtures.
Matchday 8
Monday 11th October
- Cyprus v Malta (5pm)
- North Macedonia v Germany
- Netherlands v Gibraltar
- Romania v Armenia
- Slovenia v Russia
- Croatia v Slovakia
- Iceland v Liechtenstein
- Estonia v Wales
- Latvia v Turkey
- Belarus v Czech Republic
- Norway v Montenegro
Tuesday 12th October
- Kazakhstan v Finland (3pm)
- Ukraine v Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Kosovo v Georgia
- Lithuania v Switzerland
- Sweden v Greece
- Serbia v Azerbaijan
- Faroe Islands v Scotland
- Israel v Moldova
- Albania v Poland
- England v Hungary
- Denmark v Austria
- Bulgaria v Northern Ireland
- San Marino v Andorra
- Portugal v Luxembourg
Odds on these games will be shown by bet365 once the first matchday has been completed after Saturday this week.
