World Cup qualifying resumes this week, and we’ve selected five tips from Friday’s UEFA group games.
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France vs Ukraine
FRANCE TO BEAT UKRAINE AND BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE @ 9/4
With a squad boasting the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise, Desire Doue and Ballon d'Or favourite Ousmane Dembele, France should have the firepower to overcome most teams, and we are backing Didier Deschamps' men to kick off their World Cup qualifying campaign with victory over Ukraine in Wroclaw.
However, Ukraine are no pushovers and have scored in nine of their last 10 matches, so we think they could pose some problems for William Saliba and co and give the 2022 World Cup finalists something to worry about.
Italy vs Estonia
ITALY TO BEAT ESTONIA 1-0, 2-0 OR 2-1 @ 11/4
Italy will be desperate to start life under new coach Gennaro Gattuso with a victory to boost their qualifying bid as they head into the match nine points behind Group I leaders Norway, who the Azzurri lost 3-0 to in their opening match.
Italy, who have won the World Cup four times but have failed to qualify for the last two editions, can be confident of making it eight wins out of eight in meetings with Estonia, but we don't think it will be an emphatic scoreline in Bergamo. Gattuso, a combative midfielder during his playing days, said this week: "Our history shows that we haven't won many matches with a lot of goals. We need to go into the game with pride and a sense of belonging, but we must not prepare thinking about scoring many goals."
Croatia vs Faroe Islands
CROATIA TO WIN BOTH HALVES AGAINST FAROE ISLANDS @ 8/11
The days of the Faroe Islands being swept aside by rugby scores are few and far between now, but they are still no match for most nations in Europe, and Croatia are not most nations.
Therefore we expect Croatia - semi-finalists at the last two World Cups - to make it three wins from three in Group L and, having thrashed Gibraltar 7-0 and leaders Czech Republic 5-1 in their opening two matches, we think goals will not be a problem and Zlatko Dalic's side look good value to win both halves against a nation ranked 141 in the world.
Czech Republic vs Montenegro
CZECH REPUBLIC TO WIN IN MONTENEGRO @ 4/6
Montenegro have won both of their home qualifiers so far, and the Czech Republic were thrashed 5-1 by Croatia in their last Group L match, but we're backing the pool leaders to get back on track in Podgorica and make it four wins in five matches.
They came out on top when the teams met back in June, star striker Patrik Schick scoring in a 2-0 win in Plzen, but it is Montenegro's home performances which point to this being the Czechs' night. Montenegro needed to come from behind to beat Gibraltar 3-1 in their opening qualifier and then needed a stoppage-time winner to defeat the Faroe Islands in their second outing, both opponents among the lowest-ranked teams on the continent.
Israel vs Moldova
ISRAEL TO BE WINNING AT HALF-TIME AND FULL-TIME IN MOLDOVA @ 13/10
Israel will fancy their chances of making it three wins from their opening four Group I matches against a Moldova side who have lost all three games so far. Israel have not been prolific scorers in recent times - they have only scored more than two goals in a game on three occasions since 2022 - but we think they have enough to take the spoils in Chisinau.
Moldova have failed to score in three of their last four matches and have yet to win in eight meetings with Israel, but they have rarely been overrun in this fixture and should be able to limit their opponent's goal threat.
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