11th October 1997. Not a date that’ll roll off the tongue for most football fans but any Tartan Army footsoldier worth their salt will know that was the last day that Scotland qualified for a World Cup.
A 2-0 win over Latvia at Celtic Park was enough to secure a spot at France 98 back then, now the Scots are two wins away from their first appearance in 24 years.
The first hurdle facing them is a tricky looking tie at home to Ukraine. It’s the visitors’ first official international match since Russia invaded their country back in February and it’s impossible to overstate the resolve being shown by the Ukranian squad to even be in Glasgow this evening, but from a betting angle they’re going to be hard to figure out.
Many of the squad haven’t seen competitive action since December but as a nation they’ve shown themselves to be indefatigable and there’s no doubt that fighting spirit will be translated on to the pitch.
The bookies rate Scotland 8/13 favourites to qualify for Sunday’s play-off final with Wales with the Ukranians at 6/5. But the visitors are no mugs with several players plying their trade at some of the biggest clubs in Europe. They were also quarter-finalists at Euro 2020 last summer and have plenty of big-game experience among them.
Will a lack of game-time and the emotional weight of representing their beleaguered nation be too much or will their desire to do something for their people back home raise them to greater heights?
One thing for sure is that Steve Clarke’s men won’t be showing any mercy to their opponents and if this game was being played in normal circumstances you’d probably be happy to take Scotland to win at 13/10 with a vociferous Hampden Park crowd at their backs.
Wales await the winners of tonight’s clash in Glasgow and they’re in action themselves this evening away to Poland on UEFA Nations League duty. There’s no doubt that their biggest game this weekend will be in Cardiff on Sunday so Rob Page could rest a few key players tonight.
That makes the 4/5 (SBK) on the Poles look an attractive proposition. Moreso the even money on Poland to score two or more, especially with their all-time leading goalscorer Robert Lewandowski expected to start in Wroclaw.
Last but not least on Wednesday is Finalissima 2022. “What’s that?” you say. Well, it’s the third edition of the CONMEBOL v UEFA Cup of Champions, a match between the winners of the previous South American and European championships which tonight features Italy v Argentina at a sold-out Wembley Stadium tonight. Gabriel has taken a look at the best bets for us this evening.
Super Single
Upcoming Match Previews & Tips
- Wed 17:00 Poland v Wales
- Wed 19:45 Scotland v Ukraine
- Wed 19:45 Italy v Argentina
- Thu 19:45 Northern Ireland v Greece
- Thu 19:45 Spain v Portugal
- Thu 19:45 Slovenia v Sweden
Win a Day at the Races this Sunday at Musselburgh
We’ve been given four tickets to give away for this weekend’s Sky Bet Sunday Series at Musselburgh. Get your free entry in before noon on Thursday and you could be heading along for a cracking day of racing with three of your friends.
Racing Tips
A couple of selections at Nottingham are the fancies of Rizzel for Wednesday’s action.
Golf Tips
The DP World Tour continues this week with the Porsche European Open in Hamburg. It’s a competition that’s been dominated by English golfers so naturally The Caddy has an Englishman lined up as one of his trio of each-way tips for the weekend at 40/1, 40/1 and 100/1.
As always, let us know your tips and predictions for today in the comments section below and good luck with all your bets!
The post Wednesday’s Betting Tips: Clarke’s Men to Show No Mercy appeared first on MrFixitsTips.