Europe World Cup Qualifications, Europe Semifinals, 24.03.
- Thread starter spkutano
- Start date
Italy - Macedonia and Portugal - Turkey are good matches to be tried on goals. Especially on first half - over 1.5. Sweden - Czech is more complicated. Maybe BTTS. the last match between Wales - Austria. Personally i won't play it.
Italy vs N.Macedonia Preview:
Possible starting lineups:
Italy:
Donnarumma; Florenzi, Bastoni, Mancini, Emerson; Jorginho, Barella, Verratti; Berardi, Immobile, Insigne
N.Macedonia:
Dimitrievski; S. Ristovski, Velkovski, Musliu, Alioski; Nikolov, Ademi, Bardhi; Churlinov, M. Ristovski, Trajkovski
Italy are set to play North Macedonia at the Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo on their way to the World Cup. But the winners of this tie still have a difficult game in the final of the play-offs, facing either Portugal or Turkey. Italy are huge favorites, after all, they are the reigning European champions. The Azzurri finished second in Group C - two points behind Switzerland. They had poor results after the European championship and managed to record just one win on the final five group matches, drawing four of them. Everything was decided in the last round of the group phase. Roberto Mancini's men were unable to score in Belfast, playing a goalless draw with Northern Ireland. On contrary, Switzerland scored four unanswered goals against Bulgaria and secured a direct ticket for Qatar. As a result, Italy have to win two more victories. It won't be easy, particularly because they have just two wins on the last seven matches in all competitions. On the positive note, the Azzurri have never lost a World Cup qualifying game on their own turf. Mancini has the majority of his players ready for this match, but Giovanni Di Lorenzo is sidelined through injury. He has been replaced by Mattia De Sciglio. There are three debutantes in the national team - Joao Pedro, Luiz Felipe and Mattia Zaccagni. Mancini is sure to rely on the key midfielder Marco Verratti after a hip injury ruled him out of November's final two group games. Experienced defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini are injury doubts and most probably won't start here.
North Macedonia are still awaiting their first appearance at a World Cup. A relatively new nation in European football, Macedonia have participated on Euro 2020. It was their first ever major tournament and they finished last in the group and without a single point. They were beaten by Netherlands, Austria and Ukraine. However, it was an appearance that Macedonian fans will remember forever. N.Macedonia secured their spot in the World Cup play-offs after finishing second in Group J. They were behind Germany, but ahead of Romania, Armenia and Iceland. And the Macedonian national team did something extraordinary by winning 2:1 against Germany in Duisburg. The scorers of the goals were Goran Pandev and Eljif Elmas. And they will both miss the match. The legendary Goran Pandev is no longer part of the national team as he retired following the EURO. His presence on the field would come very helpful now, as he is a Serie A veteran. Elmas, meanwhile, is sidelined through suspension. His absence is a huge handicap for coach Blagoja Milevski, Elmas is simply irreplaceable at the moment. In addition, Tihomir Kostadinov is also banned due to accumulated yellow cards. Experienced striker Ilija Nestorovski was not called in the national team as he has just recovered from knee injury. Adis Jahovic, who play in Turkey, has been forced to pull out due to injury.
Italy vs N.Macedonia Prediction:
The two sides met in the World Cup qualifiers back in 2017. The game in Italy ended with a 1:1 draw. A first-half goal from Giorgio Chiellini for Italy was canceled out by a second-half goal from Macedonian striker Aleksandar Trajkovski. t was a big surprise, though the match result wasn't important at all. It is different now, so there will be no underestimation. The Azzurri will take the match very seriously, no doubt about that. The Macedonians will play "catenaccio" and I believe they will not give up easily. However, the absence of some important players is a huge handicap for the guests. In situation like that, I think Italy will win, most probably in handicap.
Italy vs N.Macedonia Pick: Italy -1.5 @ 1.63 with Bet365
Possible starting lineups:
Italy:
Donnarumma; Florenzi, Bastoni, Mancini, Emerson; Jorginho, Barella, Verratti; Berardi, Immobile, Insigne
N.Macedonia:
Dimitrievski; S. Ristovski, Velkovski, Musliu, Alioski; Nikolov, Ademi, Bardhi; Churlinov, M. Ristovski, Trajkovski
Italy are set to play North Macedonia at the Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo on their way to the World Cup. But the winners of this tie still have a difficult game in the final of the play-offs, facing either Portugal or Turkey. Italy are huge favorites, after all, they are the reigning European champions. The Azzurri finished second in Group C - two points behind Switzerland. They had poor results after the European championship and managed to record just one win on the final five group matches, drawing four of them. Everything was decided in the last round of the group phase. Roberto Mancini's men were unable to score in Belfast, playing a goalless draw with Northern Ireland. On contrary, Switzerland scored four unanswered goals against Bulgaria and secured a direct ticket for Qatar. As a result, Italy have to win two more victories. It won't be easy, particularly because they have just two wins on the last seven matches in all competitions. On the positive note, the Azzurri have never lost a World Cup qualifying game on their own turf. Mancini has the majority of his players ready for this match, but Giovanni Di Lorenzo is sidelined through injury. He has been replaced by Mattia De Sciglio. There are three debutantes in the national team - Joao Pedro, Luiz Felipe and Mattia Zaccagni. Mancini is sure to rely on the key midfielder Marco Verratti after a hip injury ruled him out of November's final two group games. Experienced defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini are injury doubts and most probably won't start here.
North Macedonia are still awaiting their first appearance at a World Cup. A relatively new nation in European football, Macedonia have participated on Euro 2020. It was their first ever major tournament and they finished last in the group and without a single point. They were beaten by Netherlands, Austria and Ukraine. However, it was an appearance that Macedonian fans will remember forever. N.Macedonia secured their spot in the World Cup play-offs after finishing second in Group J. They were behind Germany, but ahead of Romania, Armenia and Iceland. And the Macedonian national team did something extraordinary by winning 2:1 against Germany in Duisburg. The scorers of the goals were Goran Pandev and Eljif Elmas. And they will both miss the match. The legendary Goran Pandev is no longer part of the national team as he retired following the EURO. His presence on the field would come very helpful now, as he is a Serie A veteran. Elmas, meanwhile, is sidelined through suspension. His absence is a huge handicap for coach Blagoja Milevski, Elmas is simply irreplaceable at the moment. In addition, Tihomir Kostadinov is also banned due to accumulated yellow cards. Experienced striker Ilija Nestorovski was not called in the national team as he has just recovered from knee injury. Adis Jahovic, who play in Turkey, has been forced to pull out due to injury.
Italy vs N.Macedonia Prediction:
The two sides met in the World Cup qualifiers back in 2017. The game in Italy ended with a 1:1 draw. A first-half goal from Giorgio Chiellini for Italy was canceled out by a second-half goal from Macedonian striker Aleksandar Trajkovski. t was a big surprise, though the match result wasn't important at all. It is different now, so there will be no underestimation. The Azzurri will take the match very seriously, no doubt about that. The Macedonians will play "catenaccio" and I believe they will not give up easily. However, the absence of some important players is a huge handicap for the guests. In situation like that, I think Italy will win, most probably in handicap.
Italy vs N.Macedonia Pick: Italy -1.5 @ 1.63 with Bet365
Portugal vs Turkey Preview:
Possible starting lineups:
Portugal:
Patricio; Cedric, Fonte, Inacio, Guerreiro; Moutinho, Pereira, Fernandes; B. Silva, Ronaldo, Jota
Turkey:
Cakir; Celik, Soyuncu, Demiral, Erkin; Under, Calhanoglu, Antalyali, Akturoglu; Yilmaz, Yazici
Portugal welcome Turkey in a World Cup playoff semi-final on Thursday night as both national teams are looking to move one step closer to Qatar. The winners will probably face Italy in the ultimate battle - assuming that the European champions can easily navigate their way past Macedonia in the other semi-final. That means at least one of the two European heavyweights will not be on the final tournament. Portugal were forced into the play-offs by a painful defeat to Serbia in the last round of the group stage. Aleksandar Mitrovic was relatively unknown for the majority of Portuguese fans until November, but now it's different. The Fulham striker dramatically scored in the 90th minute to send his side into the finals, while Portugal came in risk of failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Nevertheless, coach Santos's side are favorites in this match, mainly due to home advantage. They had won 10 in the row at home in the qualifications before the match with Serbia. But Santos has huge injury and suspension issues ahead of the match, particularly in defense. Ruben Dias is out injured, Joao Cancelo is suspended, while Pepe has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss out. Ruben Neves and Anthony Lopes are also sidelined through injuries. Renato Sanches is suspended for this fixture but is nursing a thigh problem anyway.
Turkey are looking for their third-ever appearance at the World Cup finals. They had one big success so far, collecting bronze medals in Japan and South Korea 2002. However, they failed to secure participation since then, meaning they are out of the biggest World competition for 20 years. But this could be a turning point. Since crashing out of Euro 2020 without a single point, Turkey have improved. The Crescent-Stars have just one defeat in the qualifications for Qatar, from Netherlands. As a result, Turkey finished second in Group G. While Portugal had dropped five points on the last two matches in qualifications, Stefan Kuntz's side took maximum from their final three fixtures in the group phase. Nevertheless, it was too little too late for the first place. Now they must face Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates in the semi-finals and then probably the actual continental champions. Coach Kuntz has no suspension worries and will welcome Mert Muldur back from a ban served against Montenegro. However, Zeki Celik may continue at right-back. Caglar Soyuncu from Leicester City and Merih Demiral from Atalanta will play in the heart of the defense, while 36-year-old Burak Yilmaz should lead the line. Orkun Kokcu came off the bench to score the winner against Montenegro last time out and could receive a chance to impress again.
Portugal vs Turkey Prediction:
The most recent clash between the two sides back in 2012 ended in a 3:1 friendly victory for Turkey. I expect an efficient match again. Portugal play at home and I believe they will attack from the beginning. And I expect to score. It's not too difficult to find the back of the net against the Crescent-Stars, only the amateurs of Gibraltar (43) conceded more goals than Turkey (16) in the group. But Turkey could score too. They have netted in each of the ten qualifying games so far. Having on mind that Portugal will be missing the key defenders due to injuries or suspensions, I think Turkey could score here.
Portugal vs Turkey Pick: Both teams to score @ 2.10 with Bet365
qpLucas
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I have to agree with this one!
Other than that, I don't see many betting options for me in any of the qualifiers match
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