FYR Macedonia v Spain
Sunday, 19:45
Live on ITV4 and Sky Sports 2
It's neck-and-neck at the top of Group G, with Spain and Italy each having accumulated 13 points from their five games thus far. Both will be looking to keep the accelerator floored this Sunday in what look like two very winnable matches.
Spain's task is the slightly harder one: La Furia Roja travel to Skopje to face a Macedonia side who drew with Turkey on Monday night and pushed both Israel and Italy in qualifiers back in October. Serbia, Wales, Iceland and Scotland are among the teams to have come away from the National Arena empty handed in World Cup qualifiers before, so Spain will need to be focussed here.
Julen Lopetegui's charges warmed up for the game with an entertaining 2-2 draw with Colombia, but some chopping and changing - both in the starting line-up and with the subs - makes that an imperfect barometer by which to predict Sunday's game. David De Gea and Thiago Alcântara should both be back in the side after shaking off knocks, which will be a big boost.
The 4-0 home win over Macedonia in November is more relevant and underlined the gap in class between the sides. But it's worth noting that Spain have been far more circumspect away from home: their last six wins on the road have all been by one or two goals. Given Macedonia's last 22 home defeats have been by similarly slim margins, the best play is backing a modest away win.
Recommended Bet
Back Spain to win and under 3.5 goals at 4/5
Italy v Liechtenstein
Sunday, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports 3
Italy have been in commanding form of late and should have little trouble brushing a fragile Liechtenstein team aside at the Dacia Arena in Udine. The Azzurri have won seven of their last nine games (the other two were draws against Spain and Germany) and made light work of Uruguay earlier in the week.
Gian Piero Ventura has done a good job of refreshing the squad since Euro 2016. While his starting XI on Sunday will not be as youthful as the one that thrashed San Marino in May - that really was a day for experimentation - the likes of Lorenzo Insigne, Andrea Belotti and Federico Bernardeschi have brought some much-needed vim to an attack that was fairly stodgy in France last summer.
At the back, the experience and nous of the old era remains. This is very much a good thing: most countries would kill to be able to name most of a back five from one single team (Juventus in this case). A run of five clean sheets in six illustrates that this is still Italy's strong suit.
Liechtenstein shipped four goals in first meeting between these sides in Vaduz and have won only five matches this decade, all against mediocre opposition. Since the Euros, they have also drawn blanks against Gibraltar, Iceland, Denmark, Spain, Albania and Macedonia. Giant killers they are not.
Predictably, backing Italy to win this, even with a sizeable handicap, is not going to make you rich. The best option in a tough market is going hard on them winning without conceding.
Recommended Bet
Back Italy to win to nil (3pts) at 1.25
Iceland v Croatia
Sunday, 19:45
Two teams who won themselves lots of fans last summer meet in what should be a testing tie in Reykjavík. Iceland and Croatia sit second and first respectively in Group I, but it's a closer affair than some of the other sections: both Ukraine and Turkey are lurking with intent and could both leapfrog the home
side if they fail to win here.
Iceland's form since their stunning Euro 2016 campaign has been steady if not spectacular: six wins, a draw and three defeats. But only two of those games were on home soil and both resulted in victories for Heimir Hallgrímsson's men. In fact, the islanders have not lost at home since June 2013.
Croatia have been the better side in qualification thus far and ran out comfortable 2-0 winners when the sides met behind closed doors in Zagreb. But they huffed and puffed on the way past Finland in their last away qualifier (1-0) and we're more than happy to side with a team that hasn't tasted defeat in their own capital in four years.
Recommended Bet
Back Iceland +0.5 at 1.90
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