It does feel that Euro 2020 has only just finished but yet here we are with another international break upon us with a host of fixtures to look forward to over the next week or so. This week we focus on the World Cup 2022 Qualifiers for Qatar and I have put together a tasty looking accumulator at odds of around 5/1. Below is my selections and betting tips alongside research for the games taking place on Wednesday night.

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France v Bosnia & Herzegovina

With France going into the Euros as favourites, it’s easy to let their surprise exit overshadow their prior success. They topped the toughest group with 5 points, even picking up a win against an experienced Germany side. France manager Didier Deschamps now has his eyes set on progressing to the 2022 World Cup and is expected to start a very strong side to take on Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the attack we’re likely to see the likes of Mbappe, Benzema and Griezmann. Benzema had a strong start to his International return, smashing in a brace against both Switzerland and Portugal and the past 7 times he’s scored for France, he’s ended up with a brace meaning if the star man grabs one going by past form, the momentum should spur him on for another.

Pogba is also in the expected line-up, he always turns it up a notch for his international side and has also been arguably Man United’s best player this season, already managing 5 assists in just 3 games, with the clinical edge of this France side I’m pretty confident they’ll put on an impressive display tonight, they’re already top of their qualification group and a win today puts them one step closer to Qatar.

Things are complicated for Bosnia-Herzegovina, their most experienced defender is Sead Kolasinac, a man who’s managed more yellow cards than clean sheets with Arsenal so far this season and in the grand scheme isn’t really that impressive, showing the lack of defensive quality this side possesses, with their only 2 clean sheets across their past 9 games coming against the likes of Montenegro and Costa Rica. They do have quality in attack with Inter Milan’s new man, Edin Dzeko leading the line. He holds the title as their highest ever scorer with 49 International goals and if anyone can test France it’ll be him, despite that I still see France getting all three points even if he does score.

With the squad depth available to the French, they’ve managed to leave some big names at home and still have in my opinion one of the most talented international sides, Jules Kounde is expected to start at right-back after impressing Deschamps in that position and the usual duo of Varane and Kimpembe should start as the centre-backs, with such a strong side it’s clear they’ll be taking this qualifier seriously and I can see them running riot, even if the opposition manages to score I can still see France scoring at least a few times today and the big game experience they have is clear to see, they’ve got a lot to prove after their knockout game against Switzerland at the Euros and I’m expecting quite a few goals today, especially with such a strong side to be fielded.

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Moldova v Austria

This is a combination of Moldova’s struggles against top teams, along with Austria knowing this is a must-win game if they are to get on track to Qatar 2022. Moldova haven’t managed a win in 16 competitive games and winning just 2 of their last 23 home fixtures and come into today without their top goal scorer Ion Nicolaescu due to suspension, which brings even more problems to their already poor scoring record, failing to score more than one goal since defeating San Marino in 2018.

Despite new Bayern man Marcel Sabitzer potentially being unavailable for the trip, Austria still have plenty of quality in other areas of the pitch. Most notably, the captain David Alaba will travel and is likely to start. He tends to step up wherever he’s needed whether that’s in the defence or attack and it’ll be a major boost for him to be present in the squad today.

Both the Austrian fans and players have been happy with manager Franco Foda, he’s managed the highest win percentage of any Austria national team manager (55%) for over 40 years and they remain confident they’ll be able to get a spot at next year’s World Cup.

Moldova are also without a further trio of players, with defenders Igor Armas, Vadim Rata and midfielder Catalin Carp all unavailable also due to suspension. Ideal for us as they now face an Austria side who know they need to get a result today, Marko Arnautovic is expected to lead the line for Austria, he’s had a strong start on his Serie A return with Bologna, with 2 goals in the opening 3 matches and should he continue his impressive form today he should fire us on our way to winning selection. I’m expecting Austria to score at least a couple today, they tend to be prolific in front of goal up against lower-ranked sides scoring 2 or more in their latest matches against the likes of North Macedonia, Luxembourg, Norway, Greece and Northern Ireland.

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Russia v Croatia

The top two in their qualifying group face off and I’m expecting plenty of attacking football, they both sit on 6 points but the positions below are all hot on their tail. A win for either Slovakia, Cyprus or Slovenia and they’ll be on at least 6 points meaning both sides will be desperate to get maximum points today to not lose their spot in the World Cup qualifying spots.

Neither side is a favourite, but they both know how important of a tie this will be and the first goal will really open the match up.  The Croatians will take confidence in the fact that Russia have only managed 2 clean sheets in their last 10 games, but when it comes to playing at home the Russians are extremely solid, especially for goals. They’ve won 12 of their last 13 World Cup Qualifying home games, with over 2.5 goals landing in 8 of those and despite their lack of clean sheets they definitely make up for it on the attack, we’ll only need the 2.

Croatia are likely to be without Modric, but there’s another veteran in Andrej Kramaric who’s expected to start. Kramaric has had a strong start to his league campaign with four assists so far and even bagging a brace in the DFB Pokal.

I’m expecting both sides to grab a goal, but I’m also pretty confident that either of these sides could score twice. Croatia tend to really struggle at the back which was shown at the Euros with them not managing a single clean sheet and Spain smashing 5 past them. They do tend to make up for it in attack though, on paper they have a more talented squad than Russia with Perisic and the afore mentioned Kramaric linking up.

Russia know how important this game will be and with such strong home form, they’ll be more focused on grabbing the goals rather than keeping them out, they’ve conceded 7 goals in their last three games and despite Dzyuba not being in the new managers plans we should see Aleksei Miranchuk, Aleksandr Golvoin and Fyodor Smolov stepping up to continue their nations goal scoring form. Russia have scored in all 3 of their qualifying fixtures and I can see both sides getting plenty of chances to score today.

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Slovenia v Slovakia

I feel we’re getting a solid price on goals in this game, a win for either side could put them into the qualification spots for next years World Cup and it’s getting to the stage of all or nothing.

Slovakia got off to a great start at the Euros with a 2-1 win against Poland, but they came undone with poor performances against the likes of Sweden and Spain, with the Spaniards actually putting 5 past them. They face a Slovenia side that when looking into it have some top quality home form, they’ve gone unbeaten in 8 games with their most recent a 6-0 win against Gibraltar. With so much on the line today, the first goal will open up the game and I’m positive it’ll lead to another.

Kelty on the other hand continue to impress with the goals being shared around the side, as Jamie Barjonas got his first goal for his new side in the win over Edinburgh City last weekend. He’s just one of many in the This is ultimately a must win for Slovenia or their chances at getting to the World Cup will be very slim and with star man Josip Ilicic fit and ready to start in the attack he could have a major impact on this tie, the Atalanta man managed a brace in their last game and knows what he needs to do today.
Slovakia keeper Martin Dubravka is missing through injury, meaning Championship side Fulham’s substitute keeper Marek Rodak will need to step up instead, at such an elite level this should be a huge boost for the Slovenian attackers.

With both sides conceding an average of over 1 goal a game and often struggling at the back, I can see the same happening here. As I’ve said Slovenia know they must win and will look to take advantage of the Slovakian injuries, but Slovakia know three points for them could also send them into the top qualifying spots and shouldn’t just sit back.

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Turkey v Montenegro

I feel we’re getting a solid price on goals in this game, a win for either side could put them into the qualification spots for next years World Cup and it’s getting to the stage of all or nothing.

Slovakia got off to a great start at the Euros with a 2-1 win against Poland, but they came undone with poor performances against the likes of Sweden and Spain, with the Spaniards actually putting 5 past them. They face a Slovenia side that when looking into it have some top quality home form, they’ve gone unbeaten in 8 games with their most recent a 6-0 win against Gibraltar. With so much on the line today, the first goal will open up the game and I’m positive it’ll lead to another.

Kelty on the other hand continue to impress with the goals being shared around the side, as Jamie Barjonas got his first goal for his new side in the win over Edinburgh City last weekend. He’s just one of many in the This is ultimately a must win for Slovenia or their chances at getting to the World Cup will be very slim and with star man Josip Ilicic fit and ready to start in the attack he could have a major impact on this tie, the Atalanta man managed a brace in their last game and knows what he needs to do today.
Slovakia keeper Martin Dubravka is missing through injury, meaning Championship side Fulham’s substitute keeper Marek Rodak will need to step up instead, at such an elite level this should be a huge boost for the Slovenian attackers.

With both sides conceding an average of over 1 goal a game and often struggling at the back, I can see the same happening here. As I’ve said Slovenia know they must win and will look to take advantage of the Slovakian injuries, but Slovakia know three points for them could also send them into the top qualifying spots and shouldn’t just sit back.

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18+ please gamble responsibly. All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.

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