Tuesday March 28, 19:45
Live on Betfair Live Video
After 20 months of frustration and underachievement,Danny Blind has been put out of his misery. The Netherlands coach couldn't survive after a dismal 2-0 defeat against Bulgaria in Sofia. The bizarrely bold decision to start 17-year-old Ajax defender Matthijs De Ligt, who had only made two starts for his club in the Eredivisie, backfired spectacularly. The youngster made a bad error for the opening goal from Spas Delev after five minutes, and 15 minutes later Bulgaria netted their second. 2-0 is the way it stayed, and Blind had coached his country for the final time.
Blind's tenure has been very disappointing. The Dutch have lost five of their nine qualifiers under him, and if you only considered competitive games, his Netherlands would be ranked 32nd in Europe. Having finished third in the World Cup in 2014 under Louis van Gaal, they finished fourth in their qualifying group for EURO 2016, and now they are in trouble again. Blind has been dismissed and replaced temporarily by his assistant Fred Grim (it seems apt that Blind and Grim have been leading the team).
Conversely, things are looking good for Italy. They are matching Spain stride for stride in their qualifying group, and Gian Piero Ventura is maintaining his reputation as a coach who can develop young players. Torino's Andrea Belotti is forming a fantastic front two with Lazio's in-form striker Ciro Immobile, and promising talents like Alessio Romagnoli, Roberto Gagliardini and Andrea Petagna were all in the squad at the weekend.
Veteran keeper Gigi Buffon has just clocked up 1000 senior games, and that underlines that the youngsters are working with some hugely experienced players, and that could prove a potent mix in Russia next year.
The Netherlands are short of confidence, and have lost six of their last home games. I'm more than happy to back the visitors Draw No Bet.
Recommended Bet
Back Italy Draw No Bet at 1.93
France v Spain
Tuesday March 28, 20:00
Live on ITV4
Both France and Spain won their World Cup qualifiers comfortably at the weekend, although neither were entirely convincing. France won 3-1 at Luxembourg, as Monaco's teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe came on as a late substitute to make his debut for Les Bleus. Spain beat Israel 4-1, but the game was tight for quite a while, and Israel made several good chances.
France once again saw the duo of Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann succeed in Luxembourg, as Giroud netted twice. It'll be interesting to see how experimental coach Didier Deschamps chooses to be. Spain are starting to finally get a tune out of Chelsea's Diego Costa in attack, but he is a doubt with an ankle injury.
Both teams have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to attacking players, and France's recent friendlies (apart from a goalless bore draw against Ivory Coast) have been pretty entertaining. Five of their last six friendly matches have featured three goals or more, and four of those have seen both teams find the net. Spain haven't failed to score since the 2-0 defeat to Italy at the Euros which knocked them out, and they've only managed two clean sheets in their last five games.
Recommended Bet
Back Both Teams To Score at 2.00
Portugal v Sweden
Tuesday March 28, 19:45
Live on Betfair Live Video
European champions Portugal maintained their bid for a World Cup finals berth on Saturday with an excellent 3-0 win over a dangerous Hungary team. Cristiano Ronaldoboosted his international goal tally to 70, and his burgeoning partnership with Porto's young forward Andre Silva looks very promising. In the four World Cup qualifiers, Ronaldo and Silva have scored 14 goals between them, with the senior partner bagging nine of those. Such is the strength in depth at coach Fernando Santos' disposal, Monaco string-puller Bernardo Silva, and the reigning Golden Boy Renato Sanches didn't even start.
Sweden are in decent shape too. They smashed Belarus 4-0, with Emil Forsberg netting twice. The RB Leipzig player is arguably his national team's top talent now that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has stepped away from Sweden duty, but he seems to be dealing with the pressure well. He has three goals in five qualifiers, including a stunning free-kick in a 2-1 defeat in France.
Sweden have scored in every game they have played since the conclusion of EURO 2016, and you have to go back to May last year for the last time they failed to score in a friendly. Portugal are looking very dangerous in attack, and although it isn't hard to break down Andorra and the Faroe Islands, they have rattled in seven goals against Latvia and Hungary.
Recommended Bet
Back Over 2.5 Goals at 2.20
Estonia v Croatia
Tuesday March 28, 17:00
Live on Betfair Live Video
Croatia tend to take friendlies pretty seriously. They recently went to Northern Ireland and smashed the hosts 3-0, something very few teams manage to do in Belfast. Since the start of 2015, they have won six and drawn one of their seven friendlies. They are also looking good in their bid to reach next year's World Cup finals in Russia. Ante Cacic's side have won their last four qualifiers, and haven't conceded a single goal in the process.
Estonia's only wins since the start of last year have been against the bizarre trio of Andorra, Gibraltar and Antigua, hardly results to make the world take notice. They were smashed 7-0 by Portugal in a friendly last year, and in the qualifiers for the Euros, they didn't score against either England or Switzerland.
Croatia have plenty of options in attack, and even if Cacic decides to shuffle his pack a bit, his side should be way too strong for Estonia.
Recommended Bet
Back Croatia -1.0 on the Asian Handicap at 1.93
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