I WATCHED Scotland thump Russia 61-0 at the Rugby World Cup and the Russians were lucky to get nil.
The nation though has a quick chance of revenge in Thursday night when the Euro 2020 qualifiers resume.
Nil could stay on the scoreboard again and the Russians are 13-10 with McBookie to win to nil.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke faces a long road to recovery and a stop off in Moscow won’t ease his pain.
Scotland lost 2-1 at home to the Russians just over a month ago and there’s been no time for Clarke to fix his problems.
If anything we’re weaker in defence and even shorter up front and there’s little chance of us leaving Russia with love.
What’s surprising though is the bookies’ odds on a home win with 1-2 from Ladbrokes and William Hill looking generous.
I’d have Russia about 1-4 while Scotland are a best 13-2 at bet365 but remember at the weekend there were a number of big winners including Livingston, Stenhousemuir, Wolves, Millwall and Newcastle.
Russia have built on their success at the World Cup with five successive wins and should cover the minus one handicap at 6-4 with William Hill. A safer bet is Russia -1AH at 19-20 with bet365 and I posted that as a Super Single earlier in the week.
Oli McBurnie’s loss is a blow to Clarke (really) and I don’t know where we look for goals although Aston Villa star John McGinn, who netted in the Hampden defeat, has as much chance of anyone and is 9-1 at William Hill to score.
Artem Dyzuba hit the Hampden winner and the Zenit star is first-scorer favourite at 7-2 with William Hill and I wouldn’t back against him.
Elsewhere in Group, Belgium took 44 minutes to break down San Marino last month but at home they should go close to the matching the nine Russia netted.
The handicap mark is set high but they should cover minus five at 3-10 and for a scorer consider Youri Tielemans at evens at William Hill. But really there is little vale to find in this one.
Belgium and Russia will finish top two so it’s all about pride for the rest and that includes Kazakhastan who are at home to Cyprus in the early game.
Considering they smashed Scotland 3-0 at home the Kazakhs look big at 23-20 with McBookie on an acca I’d back them at around 1-2.
In Group C the big game is Holland v Northern Ireland and the prices are more what Russia should be against Scotland.
The Dutch are no bigger than 1-5 with Unibet and while they should win it’s disrespecting the Irish who sit second and are three points above their hosts but with a tough run-in.
Holland can’t afford to lose this game but are unlikely too get it easy against dogged opponents.
Michael O’Neill’s main concern is a lack of goals – just seven in five games – and best bet could be the Dutch to win to nil at 3-4 with BetVictor.
There’s nothing at stake in the other Group C game with Belarus tackling Estonia who have no points. Belarus’ only points came in Estonia so they should edge this one.
The top four in Group E meet and only four points separate the top four so big prizes for anyone who wins on Wednesday.
Fourth-place Wales travel to Slovakia needing a big performance from Gareth Bale and three points to climb up the table. Ryan Giggs’ men have generally been poor in this campaign but did beat the Slovaks 1-0 at home.
Wales are 2-1 with most bookies but I can’t see them picking up more than a point. Bale is 15-8 with BetVictor to score at any time.
The other game sees leaders Croatia on a revenge mission against Hungary after losing in Budapest. Happy to put Croatia on accas at 4-11 with Ladbrokes.
Group G is incredibly tight with five points separating the top five but leaders Poland have a big advantage on Thursday as they tackle pointless Latvia in Riga.
Latvia have scored just once and conceded 21 in six games but to be fair only lost 2-0 away to the Poles.
Poland are no bigger than 1-9 so value is tough too find but Robert Lewandowski continues to bang them in for Bayern and is 17-10 with Paddy Power to break the deadlock.
Stats suggest both to score at Macedonia v Slovenia at 21-20 with sportingbet.
Austria should beat an Israel side who started the campaign well but have lost three in a row and were well beaten in Poland and Slovenia. The Austrians are 2-5 with Ladbrokes.
Recommended Bets
- Kazakhstan (3pm)
- Tielemans to score
- Russia -1AH
- Holland to win to nil
- Macedonia v Slovenia btts
- Lewandowski to score first
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