World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Armenia v Andorra (14:00 GMT)	1.40	4.50	8.00	107%
England v Northern Ireland (15:00 GMT)	1.16	8.00	30.00	103%
Wales v Austria (15:00 GMT)	2.02	3.30	3.75	107%
Bulgaria v Sweden (15:30 GMT)	2.80	3.25	2.70	104%
Czech Republic v Finland (16:00 GMT)	1.36	4.50	8.00	104%
Estonia v Slovakia (16:00 GMT)	3.60	3.25	2.10	107%
Liechtenstein v Russia (16:00 GMT)	21.00	8.00	1.19	102%
Croatia v Iceland (17:00 GMT)	1.36	4.50	10.00	106%
Poland v Azerbaijan (17:00 GMT)	1.20	6.50	18.00	105%
Georgia v Greece (17:30 GMT)	4.00	3.30	1.95	107%
Israel v Republic of Ireland (17:50 GMT)	3.20	3.25	2.46	103%
Romania v Holland (18:00 GMT)	3.20	3.20	2.28	107%
Turkey v Albania (18:00 GMT)	1.26	5.00	11.00	109%
Denmark v Kazakhstan (19:00 GMT)	1.07	8.00	42.00	109%
Belgium v Bosnia & Herzegovina (19:15 GMT)	1.73	3.50	5.50	105%
Italy v Scotland (19:45 GMT)	1.22	6.40	22.00	103%
France v Switzerland (20:00 GMT)	1.37	5.00	9.00	105%

Prices from www.odds-comparison.co.uk

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Re: World Cup Qualifiers Sat 26th One of the first matches to take my eye is Sweden @ 2.7 away to Bulgaria. First a bit of c+p.

Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Sweden	4	3	0	1	14	2	9
Bulgaria	3	2	1	0	9	4	7
Croatia	3	2	1	0	6	2	7
Hungary	4	2	0	2	5	8	6
Iceland	4	0	1	3	4	10	1
Malta	4	0	1	3	1	13	1

Bulgaria's results

13-Oct04	BUL:MLT	4:1 (1:1)
09-Oct04	CRO:BUL	2:2 (2:0)
04-Sep04	ISL:BUL	1:3 (0:1)

Sweden's Results

13-Oct-04	ISL:SWE	1:4 (0:4)
09-Oct04	SWE:HUN	3:0 (1:0)
08-Sep04	SWE:CRO	0:1 (0:0)
04-Sep04	MLT:SWE	0:7 (0:3)

Head to Heads

Bulgaria (BUL)

Sweden (SWE)

8	Played	8
0	Won	6
2	Drawn	2
6	Lost	0
1	Goals	16

14-JUN-04		LISBON (Portugal)		Sweden vs. Bulgaria	5:0 (1:0)	UEFA EURO 2004
04-SEP-99		STOCKHOLM (Sweden)		Sweden vs. Bulgaria	1:0	UEFA EURO 2000 Prel. Comp.
14-OCT-98		BURGAS (Bulgaria)		Bulgaria vs. Sweden	0:1 (0:0)	UEFA EURO 2000 Prel. Comp.
16-JUL-94		LOS ANGELES (USA)		Sweden vs. Bulgaria	4:0 (4:0)	1994 FIFA World Cup USAâ„¢
08-SEP-93		SOFIA (Bulgaria)		Bulgaria vs. Sweden	1:1 (1:1)	FIFA WC 1994 Prel. Comp. UEFA
07-OCT-92		STOCKHOLM (Sweden)		Sweden vs. Bulgaria	2:0 (0:0)	FIFA WC 1994 Prel. Comp. UEFA
26-SEP-90		STOCKHOLM (Sweden)		Sweden vs. Bulgaria	2:0 (0:0)	Friendly 1990
15-JUN-74		DUSSELDORF (FRG)		Sweden vs. Bulgaria	0:0	1974 FIFA World Cup Germanyâ„¢

The past results show the Swede's have always had the better of the Bulgarians, even when playing away managing a draw and a win. Most recent game between the two sides came at Euro 2004 when Sweden hammered them 5-0.

Bulgaria coach Hristo Stoichkov suffered another blow ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Sweden and Hungary this month as CSKA Sofia midfielder Emil Gargorov broke his arm in a Bulgarian Cup match on Wednesday. "Gargorov broke his left arm during today's Bulgarian Cup quarter-final match against Hebar Pazardzhik and will miss the World Cup qualifiers against Sweden and Hungary," said CSKA Sofia spokesman Vladimir Rupov. Bulgaria are second in Group Eight two points behind leaders Sweden but with a game in hand and face the Scandinavians at home on March 26 before visiting Hungary four days later. Stoichkov has to make changes to his team because captain and midfielder Stilian Petrov and forward Martin Petrov are suspended for the Sweden match. Injured striker Valeri Bojinov is also missing along with midfielder Marian Hristov who has had another knee operation. Forward Dimitar Berbatov is another doubt after suffering an injury last weekend

Could be key if Berbatov makes the game or not as he's their topscorer in the competition with 5 goals so far. That's 5 of their 9 goals. With him plus upto another 3 strikers missing the Bulgarians could struggle for goals.

Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was recalled by Sweden coach Lars Lagerback on Tuesday for this month's World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria. Ibrahimovic, who missed February's 1-1 friendly draw against France because of a back injury, was named in the 20-man squad for the match in Sofia on March 26. Barcelona striker Henrik Larsson is still recuperating from knee surgery and will miss the Group Eight qualifier. Sweden top the standings with nine points from four matches, while Bulgaria are two points adrift in second place with a game in hand. Squad: Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (Stade Rennes), Magnus Hedman (Celtic) Defenders: Erik Edman (Tottenham Hotspur), Petter Hansson (Heerenveen), Fredric Lundqvist (GIF Sundsvall), Teddy Lucic (BK Hacken), Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa), Mikael Nilsson (Southampton), Alexander Ostlund (Feyenoord) Midfielders: Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Gothenburg), Daniel Andersson (Malmo), Kim Kallstrom (Stade Rennes), Tobias Linderoth (FC Copenhagen), Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal), Anders Svensson (Southampton), Christian Wilhelmsson (Anderlecht) Forwards: Marcus Allback (Hansa Rostock), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus), Mattias Jonson (Norwich City), Markus Rosenberg (Malmo)

Now I wont pretend that Larsson missing isnt a blow but he's only scored 4 of their 14 goals so far. With him being the only obvious concern and Ibrahimovic back in the side, Swedeen should still have plenty of places to look for the goals to come from. Id probably favour Sweden in this match anyway but given the team news I think that anything around 6/4 is a good price on this one.

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Re: World Cup Qualifiers Sat 26th Other games taking my eye at the moment are Wales vs Austria(3.75). Savage retired and Toshack plans on naming a few new faces. New blood to give Wales rebirth or will the inexperience cost them?? Croatia(1.36) vs Iceland. Short I know but maybe not short enough. Crotia so far have managed wins over Sweden and Hungary and a draw against Bulgaria. Iceland's only point has come in a draw against lowly Malta. Short but surely Croatia should be winning this time after time. Israel vs Republic of Ireland(2.46) To be fair results so far are very similiar. Both managed draws against France and Switzerland. Israel have two victories over 1pt Cyprus. Saying that though Irelands wins have been against the Cypriots and Faroe Islands so hardly more taxing for them either. Roy Keane will be back for this match. Maybe I dont quite know everything but surely Israel cant carry on doing as well as they have been? Concerning Romania vs Holland, have Holland decided to concentrate on football yet or are they still too busy throwing toys out of the pram?

[3hree]

Re: World Cup Qualifiers Sat 26th England Russia Poland Denmark Italy Odds: 1.96 Surely worth a few bob, can't really see any of these teams struggling. Denmark/Italy/England, Poland shouldn't falter at home. Only one that I think could punish me is Russia. Bit unpredictable and away in Liechtenstein

[Marek76]

Re: World Cup Qualifiers Sat 26th

Georgia v Greece (17:30 GMT)

4.00

3.30

1.95

107%

EURO 2004 long gone, yet still Greece are odds on away from home... :\ as weak as they may seem on paper, Georgia managed to get some decent results in previous rounds:

04-Sep-2004

TRABZON (Turkey)

Turkey - Georgia

1:1 (0:0)

08-Sep-2004

TBILISI (Georgia)

Georgia - Albania

2:0 (1:0)

13-Oct-2004

LVIV (Ukraine)

Ukraine - Georgia

2:0 (1:0)

17-Nov-2004

TBILISI (Georgia)

Georgia - Denmark

2:2 (1:1)

without team news, i'd say laying Greece looks a decent bet to me.

[mrmuzeman]

Re: World Cup Qualifiers Sat 26th WFTE - nice info cheers for that :ok Ill have a small go at Sweden there, looks like they should be favourites, not the other way around.

[DAC]

Re: World Cup Qualifiers Sat 26th I'm having a punt on Andorra. What with a massive four points in the bag already Andorra are really punching above their weight. 4-1 the Draw is ok value specailly after beating Armenia in Andorra la vella

[steve1966]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th Does anyone know where the Isreal match is being played. Are they being allowed to play in their own country or will they have to use a neutral venue ???

[staffy]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th

Does anyone know where the Isreal match is being played. Are they being allowed to play in their own country or will they have to use a neutral venue ???

Being played in tel-Aviv.

[swooperman]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th Alex Deacon writes in the RFO that Russia should not be touched away to Liechenstein. I havent looked in to this much myself but he argues that this is priced as a 1980s game, & whilst Liech are crap they are improving. The forecasted odds are 5.84 for the home side, whereas you can get 22/1 at Coral & 20/1 @ Laddies. Liech did beat Luxembourg 4-0 away, & drew 2-2 with Portugal at home. Portugal beat Russia 7-1!! This may be worth a look, you never know.....

[Bigkegman]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th Good Info - swooperman - might be worth a small interest. What has happenned with the Dutch team WTFE ? as they where the first team I circled as I thought 5/4 looked a great price !

[kompressaur]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th any good links for stats and results and match reports chaps? thanks

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th Fifa's official world cup site for ya Komp http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/t/[url=http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/t/]

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th

What has happenned with the Dutch team WTFE ? as they where the first team I circled as I thought 5/4 looked a great price !

Well over the last few competitions theyve been underperforming for the ability they have and have been too busy with internal bustups.

[kompressaur]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th cheers Working. contrasts http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/050318/7/3aqm.html http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/050321/7/3bdx.html

[Petty Cash Bandit]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th good stuff lads/ettes sat 26th czech 2-0 3-0 denmark 3-0 4-0 turkey 2-0 3-0 russia 3-0 4-0 france 2-0 3-0 italy 2-0 3-0 england 2-0 3-0 wales 1-0 2-0 will pick 5 team 10 trebles 2 scores = 80 bets each trebles comes to approx 330/1

[Jedd]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th Denmark is no force at the moment but aga. "little" football nation Kasakhstan you would think that we would stroll that one. Gravesen and Krøldrup are supended and Peter Madsen are left out of the squad due to injury, several players are in quite poor matchform ,etc So Denmark has it's problems at the mo and has in recent years (with Morten OLsen as the coach) had great difficulties with small nations at home, ( Malta 2-1 at home, a win only thanks 2 2 very nice goals by Ebbe Sand late in the game). I believe this could potensially be another difficult one. (Kazakhstan need to be really up for it no doubt for that to happen though..);) The price of 1.07 for the home sounds a bit ridiculous to me but I certainly expect a win for Denmark at the end of the day. I'm not going to recommend anything here just to say that a big danish win is not a sure thing and I am actually a bit tempted to take Kazakhstan +3 @ 1.80 @ scandic... Kazakhstan lost 3-1 in Greece and 4-0 to Turkey but managed narrow defeats to Ukraine and Albania at home, not to bad but not sure they can be trusted with respect to the result in Istanbul at the end of the day.. Good luck if you decide to play on this match....:cheers

[Beanie]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th

Alex Deacon writes in the RFO that Russia should not be touched away to Liechenstein. I havent looked in to this much myself but he argues that this is priced as a 1980s game, & whilst Liech are crap they are improving. The forecasted odds are 5.84 for the home side, whereas you can get 22/1 at Coral & 20/1 @ Laddies. Liech did beat Luxembourg 4-0 away, & drew 2-2 with Portugal at home. Portugal beat Russia 7-1!! This may be worth a look, you never know.....

Hows abouts the handicaps then? +2 at 7/4 ish, and +2.5 @ 1.78 @ Pinnacle. Los'kov surely a big miss on the creative side, made worse by the injury to Yuri Zhirkov. My Nan always told me not to trust Russians, so I'm not sure, but 22/1 is maaad. :tongue2 France for a third consecutive home 0-0 v Switzerland @ 9.50? :dude

[JoroBoro]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th Lollll BaW have mistake again. World Cup - Qualification, Europe, World, Wednesday, March 30, 2005 Hungary - Bulgaria 2.2/3.1/3 Are they crazy. We will be with full squad, and we are much better team than Hugary.I think that the odds will drop soon :)

[cluelessG]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th Welcome to the PL, JoroBoro! Добре дошъл :cheers Definitely agree that Bulgaria has very good chances to beat Hungary. On the other hand, when (ok, IF) Bulgaria loses against Sweden on Saturday, it may cause the odds for away win at Hungary to go up a bit. Or maybe not?

[snyena]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th I can't see Russia not winning against Liechtenstein. For me, this is as close to a banker as it gets.

[Was (Not Was)]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th Belgium v Bosnia & Hertz. The worst value has to be the Belgians. Whilst I wouldn't put them on the same level as say Scotland or N. Ireland, they are certainly heading in that direction. They have been woeful of late. In their group they have so far lost against Spain away and Serbia at home. Their solitary point was picked up against Lithuania at home. Their last friendly game ended in in a 0-4 defeat against Egypt. Bosnia are no world beaters but they are getting better. They have two points from two home games drawing against Spain and Serbia. In their last 2 friendlies they have drawn against France (although many can do that these days) and they lost 1-2 against Iran. However before you write that off remember that Iran are 20th in FIFA's world rankings and Belgium themselves are now down to 44. It would be no surprise if Bosnia achieved a result and with the home side being quoted as odds on favourites the bet for me is to lay them which you can currently do @ 1.81 on the exchanges

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th

Hungary - Bulgaria 2.2/3.1/3 Are they crazy. We will be with full squad, and we are much better team than Hugary.I think that the odds will drop soon :)

Im confused here. In my post I stated that Bulgaria were hit badly with injuries. Surely the squad is the same for each game? Or has Stoichkov named these players in the squad knowing theyll miss the Sweden game but hoping theyll be back for the Hungary game?

[qlpol]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th

Belgium v Bosnia & Hertz. The worst value has to be the Belgians. Whilst I wouldn't put them on the same level as say Scotland or N. Ireland, they are certainly heading in that direction. They have been woeful of late. In their group they have so far lost against Spain away and Serbia at home. Their solitary point was picked up against Lithuania at home. Their last friendly game ended in in a 0-4 defeat against Egypt. Bosnia are no world beaters but they are getting better. They have two points from two home games drawing against Spain and Serbia. In their last 2 friendlies they have drawn against France (although many can do that these days) and they lost 1-2 against Iran. However before you write that off remember that Iran are 20th in FIFA's world rankings and Belgium themselves are now down to 44. It would be no surprise if Bosnia achieved a result and with the home side being quoted as odds on favourites the bet for me is to lay them which you can currently do @ 1.81 on the exchanges

Thanks Was for not yet putting us on the level of Schotland ;) Anyway, I can see your point, we're really terrible lately, although there is much more quality in our team when you compare it to the results. It is our last chance game saturday, everyone knows that and past records prove that the belgian national team can provide results when under fire. I'm not touching this game(I never touch a game where I can't judge objectively) but if I would I'll give Belgium the advantage here. Not because we're so strong but because Bosnia is missing some important players(Salihamidzic and another one) and because we're under high pressure. Belgium line-up(not confirmed yet) : Proto (La Louviere) VanderHeyden (Club Brugge) Van Buyten (Hamburg) Kompany (Anderlecht) Doll (Lokeren) Simons (Club Brugge) Vanderhaege (Anderlecht) Daerden (Genk) Buffel (Glasgow Rangers) Pieroni (Auxerre) Emile Mpenza (Hamburg)

[cluelessG]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th

Im confused here. In my post I stated that Bulgaria were hit badly with injuries. Surely the squad is the same for each game? Or has Stoichkov named these players in the squad knowing theyll miss the Sweden game but hoping theyll be back for the Hungary game?

Martin Petrov and Stan Petrov are suspended, not injured. They will play against Hungary and they are very important for Bulgaria. Stan is a playmaker and Martin is lighting-fast left winger.

[swampster]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th correct scores time again ! getting difficult now, as the minnows start to get a few shock results. Saturday: England v N.Ireland 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 Italy v Scotland 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 Armenia v Andorra 0-0, 1-0, 2-0 Denmark v Kazakhstan 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 Poland v Azerbaijan 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 Liechtstein v Russia 0-2, 0-3, 1-2 5 of those, 270 trebles. past results : http://www.rdasilva.demon.co.uk/

[JoroBoro]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th

Welcome to the PL, JoroBoro! Добре дошъл :cheers Definitely agree that Bulgaria has very good chances to beat Hungary. On the other hand, when (ok, IF) Bulgaria loses against Sweden on Saturday, it may cause the odds for away win at Hungary to go up a bit. Or maybe not?

:cheers Добре заварил :D

[kojic2003]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th

Bosnia is missing some important players(Salihamidzic and another one)

If I'm not wrong, left-back Music is the second one, but as I heard(and saw) Salihamidzic(he'll play next week, against Lithuania) has never been that important for the Bosnian national team.Always below his real level... I have no some team news about B&H, but I guess duo Baljic and Bolic are almost certain to lead their attack, HSV's Sergej Barbarez, Freiburg's Zlatan Bajramovic and Duisburg's Ivica Grlic will probably start in midfield, Papac(Austria Wien) and Branimir Bajic(Partizan) at the back, Hasagic is the first-choice goalkeeper. B&H possess a few great free-kick takers like Ivica Grlic or Elvir Baljic, so Belgium should be very careful. Btw, according to some sources, B&H will have a huge support of their fans(10'000+) in this game.

[swooperman]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th This may be old hat as this was printed monday night, but the RFO (Figaro) says: Azerbaijan - skipper & top scorer Gurban Gurbanov is back but 5 other key players miss these 2 trips. Finland - definetly missing midfielders Vayrynen & Tainio. Romania - he says, basically, they are crap as a third of the squad comes from Steaua Bucharest & they have failed to make the UEFA cup quarters, & Chivu, Contra, Ghioane & Moldovan (anyone for tennis??) have been brought back after a year out. Holland - no Davids & Makaay, but Van Nistelrooy, Robben, Cocu, Bouma & Sneijder return. Figaro really fancies this..... Belgium - 6 strikers in the squad, they will blood youngsters as they look to bounce back from the 4-0 friendly defeat v Egypt :eek He says swerve, swerve, swerve!! Greece - bizarrley, he really fancies these. Reckons they are well back on track after beating Denmark with a good performance, & reckons 0-1 or 0-2. Andorra - Figaro, together with Alex Deacon, likes these. They took 4 points & 2 clean sheets off Macedonia, & they reckon Armenia are worse. The reason is that the FIFA rankings havent apparently took into account Andorras improvement this season, & Armenia have won only 1 competitive game in 18 months. Their views, not necessarily mine, hope they are of some use.

[Jedd]

Re: World Cup European Qualifiers Sat 26th Turkey - Albania, Poland - Azerbaijan 2 homewins "obviously" but does anyone think they could be worth taking on the -1 handicap? Albania without 3 defenders for this game and if the info from Swooper are correct then it will be a weakend Azerb. for the away in Poland aswell... Any views appreciated.:)