JOGA BONITO!
Greece vs. Georgia
April 1st 5:45am
Greece produced a shock draw against Spain to open its 2022 World Cup qualifier and now has the task of accounting for Georgia on Thursday morning.
Georgia have been laudable in its opening two games of the qualifiers against the much more talented Swedish and Spanish line ups but were resigned to losses in both games.
The first of which was a 1-0 to Sweden and the most recent a 2-1 defeat against Spain after scoring the go-ahead goal in the 44th minute.
While Greece is arguably the easiest of the first three matches Georgia will encounter, the Greeks did fight bravely to snatch a draw against Spain after their captain Anastasios Bakasetas’ 57th minute penalty cancelled out Alvaro Morata’s 33rd minute strike.
Since 1996, both nations have played each other on seven occasions with Greece winning all bar a 1-1 draw in the 2010 Euro Qualifiers.
If history is anything to go by, Greece should be able to notch up its first win of the qualifiers.
Prediction: Greece 1 Georgia 0
Suggested Bet: Greece head to head at $1.67
Spain vs. Kosovo
April 1st 5:45am
Spain face Kosovo for the first time in FIFA international football history when the two nations duel at Estadio Olimpico on Thursday morning.
Luis Enrique would have wiped the sweat off his brow after Spain’s 2-1 win over Georgia on Monday.
It took 92nd minute goal from substitute Daniel Olmo to salvage all three points for Spain after going down 1-0 at the 44th minute mark.
Ferran Torres was on target to equalize in the 56th minute as Georgia held firm until the very dying seconds of the match.
Spain are really yet to turn the screws in Group B and it may present an opportunity for Kosovo who was in its opening contest of the qualifiers.
A 3-0 thumping against Sweden was not the way Bernard Challandes planned to start his first tenure in a World Cup qualifier with Kosovo.
Enrique is unlikely to play his strongest XI in this game but the likes of Sergio Ramos and Morata are expected to front up again.
Spain will look to control possession, as it usually does, and dominate this game from the onset.
Prediction: Spain 4 Kosovo 0
Suggested Bet: Total goals scored over 3.5 at $2.08
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Total goals scored over 3.5
Leg 2: A. Morata to score anytime
Combined odds = $2.5
Lithuania vs. Italy
April 1st 5:45am
Group C leader Italy does battle against Lithuania on Thursday morning from Vilnius in attempt to make it three wins from its opening three games.
Roberto Mancini has the Italians humming at the moment after recording two 2-0 victories against Northern Ireland and Bulgaria, while Lithuania started its campaign off with a 1-0 loss to Switzerland.
With Italy expected to top the group and Lithuania likely to be eliminated in this phase of the competition, Mancini, despite not playing anything resembling a best Italian XI, will be aiming for another easy win.
As we have come to know with Italian football; defence is key.
That has been at the forefront of the Italian charge towards Qatar.
Gli Azzurri are yet to conceded a goal in the qualifiers as young goalkeeping sensation Gianluigi Donnarumma follows in the footsteps of his predecessor Gianluigi Buffon.
Lithuania did show signs of resilience and structure against a much more highly fancied Switzerland first-up, but with Italian team is playing with a sense of purpose and urgency.
Would be a huge upset if Lithuania nabbed a point let alone the win.
Prediction: Lithuania 0 Italy 3
Suggested Bet: Total scored in first half over 1.5 at $2.11
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Total goals scored under 3.5
Leg 2: A. Belotti to score anytime
Leg 3: Only one team to score
Combined odds = $4
Austria vs. Denmark
April 1st 5:45am
The top duo of Group F do battle when Austria welcome Denmark to the Ernst-Happel-Stadion on Thursday morning.
It has been a fruitful campaign for the visitors thus far having registered a comfortable 2-0 win over Israel and a big 8-0 rout of Moldova.
Denmark has actually made the best start to the European World Cup qualifiers of any nation with its plus 10 goal differential and perfect winning record.
The Danes have now gone on a 25-match run where it has only lost two games with its last eight resulting in seven wins and six clean sheets.
Austria has so far managed a win and a draw in its opening two fixtures of Group F to sit in second spot.
A 2-2 draw against Scotland on Friday was followed up by a come-from-behind 3-1 triumph over the Faroe Islands.
Like its opponents, Austria has been on a solid run of form over the past two years, having only two of its last 18 matches.
The historical head to head between the nations suggests a very close encounter with the nine meetings being split at four wins each.
Most recently it was Denmark who came away with a 2-0 win back in 2018, and it is hard to deny their brilliant start to these qualifiers.
Prediction: Austria 1 Denmark 2
Suggested Bets:
Denmark head to head at $2.45
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Denmark head to head
Leg 2: M. Damsgaard to score anytime
Combined odds = $5
