Best bets as France take on Germany and Ireland bid for Wales revenge
Under pressure Ireland manager Martin O’Neill has called on his squad to unleash their creative side as they attempt to avenge a 4-1 defeat to Wales in their opening Nations League match.
However, given O’Neill’s midfield will likely consist of James McClean, Jeff Hendrick, Cyrus Christie and Harry Arter, that call is likely to go unanswered.
Bookmaker Paddy Power offers odds of 10/3 that O’Neill will not be Ireland manager for the start of Euro 2020 qualifying on March 21, 2019, and that price will surely shorten if they fail to beat Wales tonight.
One positive for O’Neill is that their opponents Wales are without their two star players in Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. That good news for O’Neill is bad news for the neutral as this game could descend into boredom without those creative sparks to liven up proceedings.
Another international manager on the brink is Germany’s Joachim Low, who witnessed his side collapse to a 3-0 defeat against the Netherlands on Saturday as he took charge of his team for a record 168th time.
Low is under intense pressure as his team languish at the bottom of their Nations League Group after a woeful World Cup display in which his team were knocked out in the initial stages.
The DFB, Germany’s football federation, will surely be discussing his position if they suffer defeat against World Cup winners France tonight.
So with those managerial movements taken into consideration, here is a look at the best bets for tonight’s Nations League fixtures
Back the Bulgarians
Bulgaria have won their last four internationals, including beating tonight’s opponents Norway in Sofia last month. They can score from all areas, their last seven goals have been scored by six different players, and it may be worth taking a punt on them grabbing an away win.
The bravest punters might take a chance on them to win the match outright at a general 6/1, but the less-risky play might be to back them at a general 4/1 draw no-bet.
Bore draw
Nobody likes the thought of watching a boring 0-0 draw but that could be the most likely outcome in the Ireland v Wales match. The stalemate is a best-priced 9/2 but it might also be worth having a saver on under 1.5 goals at 11/10 just in case one of these sides fashion an unlikely goal
France to be held
Given their poor run of form, it’s difficult to see Germany winning in France, but they were not as bad as the 3-0 scoreline suggests against The Netherlands on Saturday and are still creating goalscoring opportunites. Leroy Sane, who looked dangerous when coming on as a substitute, should be given the chance to start and it might pay to take a chance on them grabbing a draw at 7/2
