Another international break is upon us so to make the time pass a little quicker and to give you guys a little more insight I thought I would put together a betting preview for the World Cup qualifier games involving the teams close to home for the upcoming weekend. Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland and England are all in action so I will include everything you need to know about these games before you think about having a bet. I will also offer some of my own predictions and tips to hopefully assist you with your bets. I will be doing a separate article all together for the Scotland game against Israel so I have all bases covered! Happy reading!

Czech Republic v Wales

Belgium are the runaway leaders in Group E and it looks very much like it’ll be a battle for 2nd between these two making this particular fixture on Friday night mightily important. Both sides sit on 7 points but Wales have actually played a game less so could put themselves in the driving seat with a positive result in Prague.

The return of the Czechs best player in Patrik Schick and the absence of Wales best player in Gareth Bale means all the momentum shifts towards the hosts here. The Czechs proved in the summer what a capable outfit they can be and without Bale, Wales just don’t carry the same threat. Suspect it will be a tight and tense affair given what is a stake but fancy the Czechs to do the business at home in front of their own fans. 2-1 to the Czech Republic, my prediction in this one.

Czech Republic Predicted 11: Vaclik; Mateju, Kalas, Celustka, Novak; Holes, Soucek; Pesek, Barak, Hlousek; Schick

Wales Predicted 11: Ward; Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, Gunter; Morrell, Allen; Wilson, Ramsey, James; Moore

Azerbaijan v Republic of Ireland

Although qualification is almost certainly beyond them, it is an important couple of fixtures for Ireland and in particular their manager, Stephen Kenny. They haven't won a game yet in Group A and a number of Irish sources feel that should his side not win in Baku then he is more than likely going to lose his job. As for the hosts, well they are the only team performing worse than the Irish in the group and sit bottom having managed just 1 point from their 5 games played so far.

Not expecting a classic by any means but Ireland have named a strong squad, probably their strongest on paper for a number of years now. The back 5 is solid and I don’t fancy Azerbaijan to be able to breach them. A 1-0 Ireland win is the most likely outcome in this one for me.

Azerbaijan Predicted 11: Mahammadaliyev; Medvedev, Badalov, Haghverdi, Krivotsyuk; Mahmudov, Garayev, Bayramov; Alasgarov, Ghorbani, Ozobic

Ireland Predicted 11: Bazunu, Doherty, Duffy, Egan, Stevens, Cullen, Knight, McGrath, Robinson, Parrott, Idah

Andorra v England

The Three Lions have taken 16 points from a possible 18 to sit pretty at the top of the pile. This game will be nothing more than a formality and it will be a case of how many for England rather than whether they win the game or not. England will however be disappointed to have dropped two points away in Poland last time out due to a very late equaliser from Damian Szymanski. Hungary up next in 4 days’ time and should England get all 6 points from both games as expected then qualification for Qatar 2022 will be all but sealed.

Even if Southgate does intend to shuffle his pack significantly, there is still more than enough quality within the squad to win this game comfortably. The pitch will be something of a leveller and from what I have read it isn’t a particular good playing surface. Even if Southgate does intend to shuffle his pack significantly, there is still more than enough quality within the squad to win this game comfortably. The pitch will be something of a leveller and from what I have read it isn’t a particular good playing surface. England will wear Andorra down though and likely register a routine 3-0 win on Saturday.

Andorra Predicted 11: Alvarez; Rubio, C. Garcia, Vales, Llovera, M. Garcia; Alaez, Pujol, Vieira, Cervos; Cucu

England Predicted 11: Ramsdale; Trippier, Stones, Mings, Chilwell; Henderson, Ward-Prowse, Mount; Saka, Abraham, Foden

Switzerland v Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland will be hoping to get another positive result against the Swiss having held them to a 0-0 draw at Windsor Park during the last international break. Top spot in Group C is almost certainly beyond them with Italy strolling ahead at the top of the group. The opportunity of a playoff place still remains; they currently sit 3rd, 3 points behind the Swiss. Of course they head to Geneva as massive underdogs but will be hoping to frustrate their opponents as they did so effectively when the teams met just last month.

The Swiss are a quality side and I think they showed that in the summer as they eliminated the French on the way to making the quarter-finals of Euro 2020. They are missing Xhaka but don’t have anywhere near as many problems as the Northern Irish on the injury front. Unfortunately for Baraclough and his men, I find it hard to see past a relatively straightforward Swiss win in this one, 2-0.

Switzerland Predicted 11: Sommer, Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez, Freuler, Zakaria, Aebisher, Shaqiri, Embolo, Seferovic

Northern Ireland Predicted 11: Peacock-Farrell, Bradley, Cathcart, McNair, Brown, Lewis, Davis, Saville, Dallas, Washington, Magennis