2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa Round 5

<p><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 38px; text-align: center;">2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa Round 5 – Predictions, Betting Tips & Odds</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">We have expert betting tips for Super Rugby Aotearoa Round 5, which kicks off on Friday night.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">On the card this week is Highlanders vs Hurricanes on Friday night, followed by Chiefs vs Blues on Saturday night.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="font-size: 38px; text-align: center;"></span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">There is plenty of excitement for this round, especially the local Chiefs vs Blues derby.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IXW5o9YE5pc/YF14Ds-4PQI/AAAAAAAAL8w/gNvp5kvsi_AlroijO9ZxuhFSf_gMbUAcwCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="750" height="360" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IXW5o9YE5pc/YF14Ds-4PQI/AAAAAAAAL8w/gNvp5kvsi_AlroijO9ZxuhFSf_gMbUAcwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h360/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Friday 26/3/21</span></p><h3 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">5:05pm Highlanders vs Hurricanes @ Forsyth Barr Stadium</span></h3><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Hurricanes will need to bounce back after a devasting loss to the Chiefs last week.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Despite having a 19-point halftime lead, the Hurricanes played horribly in the second half and eventually lost 35-29. It was a shocking result after they appeared to have the game in safe keeping.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">There were some disappointed looks on the faces of the Hurricanes, including All Black Jordie Barrett. Bouncing back against the Highlanders won’t be easy as the southern men had the week off in Round 4.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Highlanders need something to go their way after starting the season with only one win from three games. They lost to the Crusaders and Blues, but got the better of the Chiefs in Round 2 in Hamilton.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">It’s a less than satisfactory start for the Highlanders, who should enjoy getting back home with a struggling Hurricanes heading to town.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">It comes as no surprise to see bookmakers install the Highlanders as favourites, but there could be value with the Hurricanes.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">They have a team that could take the title, but they need to close out games better. Given their All Black talent, the Hurricanes are currently the underperformers of Super Rugby New Zealand, but that could all change.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Punters get $2.42 for the Hurricanes to win the game outright, which is good shopping. A close game is expected, so the head-to-head odds are well worth the risk.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Betting tip:</span> Hurricanes to win @ $2.42 </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Hurricanes by 4</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">—</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Saturday 27/3/21</span></p><h3 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">5:05pm Chiefs vs Blues @ FMG Stadium</span></h3><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Chiefs come off an incredible comeback against the Hurricanes and that should give them plenty of confidence this week.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Just when it looked like the Chiefs were going to endure another long season, they muster from 19 points down at the half against the Hurricanes to win 35-19. It was a win that could be a statement game for the Chiefs, which needed the momentum.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">However, they face the Blues this week and that’s a steady rise in class. The Blues had a chance to beat the Crusaders last week, but they weren’t able to take their chances.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">It has been a good season so far for the Blues, and despite losing at Eden Park last week, that form stacks up nicely against the Chiefs.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Blues are considered the second-best team in New Zealand, behind only the Crusaders. It was a solid effort in defeat last week, but they didn’t cap off good plays with a try.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The scrum held up strongly for the most part and that’s where they could dominate the Chiefs, who don’t have a very good scrum.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Punters get value odds for the Blues and they are the bet of the round.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Betting tip:</span> Blues –4.5 @ $1.84<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Blues by 12</span></p>

2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa Round 5

2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa Round 5 – Predictions, Betting Tips & Odds We have expert betting tips for Super Rugby Aotearoa Round 5, which...

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Andy Brassell On European Football: World champions hit road to 2022

<p><span face="Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #161616; font-size: 2rem;">Andy Brassell On European Football: World champions hit road to 2022</span></p><p><span face="Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700;">It feels unusual with Euro 2020 still to be played but European nations begin their World Cup 2022 qualification campaigns this week - and with a punishing schedule, writes Andy Brassell...</span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">France the early favourites</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">France</strong> still have an embarrassment of riches as they defend their crown - and the right approach. The versatility of Didier Deschamps' players is such that they are perfectly equipped for international football during the pandemic which, one imagines, may well involve teams sitting deep and playing at a lower tempo than at the top end of club football, if only to manage fatigue. This is what France did in order to win in Russia three years ago, of course.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The squad make-up for these opening three <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">World Cup</strong> qualification fixtures is interesting, with the perpetual cornerstones of Hugo Lloris, Raphaël Varane, Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kylian Mbappé</strong> joined by a few familiar faces returning to form. Ousmane Dembélé is included and was outstanding in Barcelona's 6-1 demolition of Real Sociedad on Sunday, while elsewhere in La Liga, Thomas Lemar is quietly compiling a very impressive campaign with leaders Atlético Madrid. N'Golo Kanté's current surge is also good news.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's a tough week for all these teams, containing three games at the time they least want them. Facing <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ukraine</strong> at home first up should spark some desire in France, though; after all, it was in the second leg of the World Cup play-off against the same opposition in November 2013 that Les Bleus came back from two down to book their place in Brazil in a mesmerising night in Saint-Denis. Deschamps and his team started to win the hearts of the nation back that evening after years of fractious relations - which they've not let go since - so it is the ideal starting point to build on their recent successes.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.176724191" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #161616; font-family: inherit;"><span style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 184, 12); border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><b>Back under 2.5 goals between France and Ukraine at</b></span></span><span style="color: #161616; font-family: inherit;"><span style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 184, 12); border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><b> </b></span></span><b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="11/10"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2.12</span></b></a></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SAUxRQ3Lo-M/YFq1wTK0zpI/AAAAAAAAL8o/55hYqKgYfOAfqkbV03mkvWDHKmhI2xs-wCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="480" height="422" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SAUxRQ3Lo-M/YFq1wTK0zpI/AAAAAAAAL8o/55hYqKgYfOAfqkbV03mkvWDHKmhI2xs-wCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h422/image.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Löw tees up Germany succession</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The 2014 winners start their qualification campaign in an unusual sort of limbo with <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jogi Löw</strong>, the coach who took them to victory in Brazil, on his way out after the Euros. During subsequent failures Löw tried to draw a line under some of the figures of that golden era but has now opened up the possibility of recalling veteran stars, including Thomas Müller, though not in time for this set of fixtures.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The midfield doesn't seem so reliant on Toni Kroos anymore, with Leon Goretzka playing magnificently in the last 12 months and looking like a future national team captain. He is surrounded the in-form likes of <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ilkay Gündogan</strong> and his clubmate Joshua Kimmich plus exciting rising stars like Florian Neuhaus and teenagers <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jamal Musiala</strong> (who rejected England to respond to the call) and Florian Wirtz.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Defence continues to be Löw's issue, and newcomers like Robin Gosens and Philipp Max are more gifted in the opposition half of the field. The return to form of Chelsea's <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Antonio Rüdiger</strong>, under his countryman Thomas Tuchel, could be helpful. But it would be very surprising if Germany emerged from this run of games against Iceland, Romania and North Macedonia with a string of clean sheets.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.176788615" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Back both teams to score in Germany v Iceland at <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="6/4"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2.5</span></b></a></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Portugal move away from Ronaldo reliance</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The current European champions are one of the teams most obviously affected by the current situation, with entry and quarantine rules in <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Portugal</strong> meaning that they will play their opening home qualifier against Azerbaijan in Turin rather than Lisbon on Wednesday. So much for <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cristiano Ronaldo</strong> putting a bit of distance between himself and the scene of Juventus' recent difficulties.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Despite suggestions that the Italian champions could do with moving on from Ronaldo, there is no sense that his race is run at international level in particular, where he has just seven more goals to get in order to match Ali Daei's record tally of 109 in international football. National coach <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fernando Santos</strong> deserves an assist somewhere along the way, having devised a way of playing for Portugal in recent years that spares Ronaldo's legs and makes sure he receives a plentiful supply of chances.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Happily for both Ronaldo and Santos, Portugal are nowhere near as reliant upon their talisman as they once were. The talent has been unquestionable for a while now, but it is reaching maturity. The Manchester City duo of <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rúben Dias</strong> and João Cancelo have already become Premier League mainstays. André Silva is in the form of his life with Eintracht Frankfurt - he has the same amount of Bundesliga goals so far this term, 21, as Erling Haaland - as is Porto's Sérgio Oliveira, and the squad has leaders in <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bruno Fernandes</strong>, João Moutinho, José Fonte and Bernardo Silva. That talent will be needed in challenging away trips to Serbia and Luxembourg.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.180977359" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Back the draw between Serbia and Portugal at <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="14/5"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3.8</span></b></a></p>

Andy Brassell On European Football: World champions hit road to 2022

Andy Brassell On European Football: World champions hit road to 2022 It feels unusual with Euro 2020 still to be played but European nations...

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Belgium v Wales: Tough World Cup qualifier likely to lead to opening defeat

<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 2rem;">Belgium v Wales: Tough World Cup qualifier likely to lead to opening defeat</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700;">Wales get their World Cup qualifying campaign underway with a tough trip to Belgium and Simon Mail thinks the visitors will struggle to avoid defeat...</span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Page faces huge challenge in opener</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Wales face a huge test in their first World Cup qualifier as they travel to Belgium, the world's top ranked team. It will certainly be a tall order for caretaker boss <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Robert Page</strong> as Wales look to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958. Page remains in charge with Ryan Giggs still absent, due to his bail being extended to May after denying allegations of assault.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Their preparation for the rescheduled Euro 2020 this summer is well underway with Wales pitched in a group featuring Italy, Turkey and Switzerland. Wales, under Page's guidance, defeated Republic of Ireland and Finland in November to finish top of their Nations League group. <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gareth Bale</strong> is likely to be involved, after featuring intermittently for Tottenham, but midfielder Aaron Ramsey misses out due to a thigh injury.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Belgium aiming to put down marker for Euro 2020</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Belgium are one of the favourites for this summer's European Championships and <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Roberto Martinez</strong> has a group of world class players to spearhead their challenge. Belgium qualified for the Nations League finals after a 4-2 win over Denmark in November.</span></p><blockquote style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0.75rem 1rem; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">This was their fourth successive win and Belgium topped their Euro 2020 qualifying group with a perfect record of ten victories.</span></blockquote><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Their only defeat since November 2018 was a 2-1 loss to England in the Nations League last October. Manchester City playmaker <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kevin De Bruyne</strong> is a huge threat for Belgium although Martinez could be without several key players. Eden Hazard is definitely out with an ankle injury but there are doubts over the availability of striker Romelu Lukaku due to Inter Milan's latest Covid-19 outbreak.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="kevin de bruyne.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="720" src="https://betting.cdnppb.net/football/kevin%20de%20bruyne.600x338.jpg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1280" /></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.176724325" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Hard to bet against favourites Belgium</a></strong></h2><div><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Belgium are <a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.176724325" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="30/100"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1.3</span></b></a> favourites for this qualifier and it is hard to take issue with this price. The hosts finished third in the last World Cup and did not drop any points in qualifying for Euro 2020 which shows the size of the task facing Wales. <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Belgium</strong> have great strength in depth and it would be a surprise if they dropped points in this opener.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Wales are <a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.176724325" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="19/2"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">10.5</span></b></a> which will certainly interest some of their fans, especially considering their recent record against Belgium. Wales are unbeaten in their last four competitive clashes which includes their <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">famous 3-1 quarter-final win</strong> at Euro 2016. That suggests the visitors are overpriced but whether they can topple this Belgium team, which has developed over the last five years, appears doubtful.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The draw can be backed at <a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.176724325" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="9/2"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5.5</span></b></a> and two of the last four games between the teams have ended level. Wales would be delighted to come away from Leuven with a <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">draw</strong> but this still looks too much to expect. Belgium have been ruthless in qualifying matches and the hosts are backed to win although their odds in this market are unattractive.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.betfair.com/sport/football/fifa-world-cup-qualifiers/belgium-v-wales/30180883" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Low-scoring Belgium win looks likely</a></strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Belgium are fancied to start with a victory but it will not be a walkover and a relatively <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">low-scoring win</strong> is predicted. In Wales' last 22 matches, only one game has produced more than three goals. Four of their last five games have seen them keep a clean sheet with their defensive solidity capable of keeping this game competitive.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">The last five clashes between Belgium and Wales have seen no more than four goals scored. Belgium's quality should tell over the course of the match but Page's side are unlikely to be blown away by their opponents. Backing the home side to win with <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">under 3.5 goals</strong> increases the odds on a Belgium victory to a more appealing <a href="https://www.betfair.com/sport/football/fifa-world-cup-qualifiers/belgium-v-wales/30180883" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">10/11</a>.</span></p></div>

Belgium v Wales: Tough World Cup qualifier likely to lead to opening defeat

Belgium v Wales: Tough World Cup qualifier likely to lead to opening defeat Wales get their World Cup qualifying campaign underway with a to...

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Serbia v Republic of Ireland: Patched up guests on the ropes

<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 2rem;">Serbia v Republic of Ireland: Patched up guests on the ropes</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700;">Stephen Kenny's reign as Ireland manager has hit one crisis after another and injuries have left him facing an uphill battle in Serbia writes Daniel McDonnell...</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L8ZT_ppaoIU/YFqxbLXH6CI/AAAAAAAAL8Y/M5B6dLYbBkkwb1rexeBA--aQdiUybd4kgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L8ZT_ppaoIU/YFqxbLXH6CI/AAAAAAAAL8Y/M5B6dLYbBkkwb1rexeBA--aQdiUybd4kgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ireland must overcome fresh issues</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> need a result in Serbia</strong> on Wednesday to change the direction of his tenure.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's all gone downhill for Kenny since Ireland missed <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">a raft of chances </strong>before losing October's Euro 2020 playoff to Slovakia on penalties. They have been dogged with Covid and injury issues since then, and also lost coaches <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Damien Duff and Alan Kelly</strong> for off-the-field reasons. <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chelsea coach Anthony Barry and Crystal Palace goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely </strong>have come in as (part-time) replacements.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">There's no way of sugar coating the statistics; Ireland have <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">failed to score</strong> in seven successive matches, drawing two and losing four after that shootout heartache against the Slovaks. But he hasn't been able to field anything close to his best team since that fixture.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">What Kenny needed for this opening World Cup qualifier was a <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">trouble free </strong>build-up. He's endured the <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">exact opposite.</strong> Goalkeeper <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Darren Randolph </strong>is out and so is his intended replacement <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Caoimhin Kelleher</strong>, meaning that Bournemouth back-up Mark Travers steps up for his competitive debut.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Conor Hourihane, Callum O'Dowda and Kevin Long sustained <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">weekend injuries</strong> which ensure they join John Egan, James McCarthy, Adam Idah, Harry Arter and Jack Byrne on a <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">list of outfield absentees</strong>. James McClean and Aaron Connolly have travelled with <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">various levels of doubt</strong> hanging over their participation.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Shane Duffy </strong>is present and correct but has been badly out of form at Celtic and hasn't played since February. It's difficult to count in-form Irish players on the fingers of one hand and very hard to nail down what side Kenny might pick. <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ciaran Clark</strong> has been out of the Irish frame for a while but the Newcastle player will come straight into the frame. A solid centre half isn't exactly a gamechanger.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Kenny must choose between a contingent of out of form or out of favour strikers to end that goalscoring drought.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Serbia's new beginning</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Serbian observers are guessing what their new boss <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dragan Stojkovic </strong>may do but in a very different context. He has an abundance of options flying at club level and the challenge he faces is how to accommodate them. In recent years, Serbia have arguably underperformed, missing out on the Euros after a penalty defeat to Scotland following 120 scoreless minutes in Belgrade.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Form players include Fiorentina's <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dušan Vlahović </strong>who has struck double figures in Serie A this term and Lazio's <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sergej Milinković-Savić</strong>, an assist machine in Italy. Serbia can be inconsistent but the <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">problems facing Stojkovic</strong> are preferable to what Kenny is dealing with.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Taking all of the above into consideration, it's <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">no surprise that Serbia are the odds on favourites</strong> but their inconsistency is such that it's difficult to advertise steaming into back them.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's worth remembering that while this is a<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> game of significance</strong> under a new manager, it's still a closed doors clash at the start of the international break and the hosts actually have a greater number of players that have been active in recent months.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Therefore, it's by <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">no means a given</strong> that this match will start at a high intensity and it's possible there could be more shadow boxing than punches thrown in the early minutes. Kenny wants his side to try and keep possession more so while they haven't been hurting teams, neither have they <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">lumped the ball away </strong>and invited protracted spells of pressure.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Stephen Kenny Ireland manager 1280.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="720" src="https://betting.cdnppb.net/football/Stephen%20Kenny%20Ireland%20manager%201280.600x338.jpg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1280" /><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />The list of full time results under this manager tells a tale. 1-1, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1, 0-3, 0-1, 0-0. A beating at the hands of England was the <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">exception to the pattern</strong>; in a competitive match there's no way that Ireland will be as open.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Serbia can ignite on a good day - they thrashed Russia 5-0 in the Nations League in November - but there was a bit of <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Euros elimination frustration</strong> in the air and Russia did experiment a bit. This should be a far more cagey affair by comparison and <a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.176789261" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">the <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="9/5"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2.78</span></b> about Under 1.5 Goals is the most appealing bet.</a></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The interval game</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">What about the bigger picture outcome? From an Irish perspective, the heart would be ruling the head to construct an argument where they come away with the result they want. But there is a niggling feeling that the big away qualifiers tends to draw an unexpected response of this crop and, with skipper, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seamus Coleman </strong>back in the side there's every chance they will regroup and be competitive</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">In truth, they have started most games under Kenny reasonably well. <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Frustration</strong> has kicked in later on when they have lost their way. From a trading perspective, the <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="5/7"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1.71</span></b> about a home win is likely to go bigger in running and those who expect Stojkovic to collect the three points are advised to sit and wait.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Taking all the factors into consideration, the <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="1/1"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2.02</span></b> about the game being level at the interval appeals.</span></p>

Serbia v Republic of Ireland: Patched up guests on the ropes

Serbia v Republic of Ireland: Patched up guests on the ropes Stephen Kenny's reign as Ireland manager has hit one crisis after another a...

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Aston Villa v Tottenham: Faltering duo won't entertain

<p><span face="Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #161616; font-size: 2rem;">Aston Villa v Tottenham: Faltering duo won't entertain</span></p><p><span face="Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700;">It's been an awful week for Tottenham, and Kevin Hatchard doesn't reckon they'll play out a thriller at Villa Park...</span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Grealish's absence has been decisive for Villa</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Any team would suffer without their best player, but the effect of <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jack Grealish's shin injury</strong> on Aston Villa's form has been particularly acute. Grealish hasn't played for over a month, and Villa have taken just five points from the five outings without their talismanic midfielder. Although the primary goal of survival has been achieved with room to spare, any hopes of a bonus European qualification are fading.</span></p><blockquote style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0.75rem 1rem; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">What's keeping Villa in the mix in games is their miserly defence. Dean Smith's outfit have conceded just 28 goals in 27 league matches, a massive improvement on last term, which saw them leak 67 goals across the whole top-flight campaign.</span></blockquote><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">They have racked up a whopping 14 clean sheets in the Premier League, and the arrival of former Arsenal keeper Emi Martinez has proven to be a big boost.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Villa's home form is however a big concern. They have <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">lost five of their last ten</strong> at Villa Park, and have won just three games in that spell. They have failed to score four times across those ten matches, and they have only scored multiple goals on three occasions. Only 17 of their 41 points this term have been collected at home.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Grealish is still a doubt to face the club he once came very close to joining, despite Smith's positive proclamations. Defender Kortney Hause is still struggling with a foot injury.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Crestfallen Spurs must bounce back quickly</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">As Dinamo Zagreb's players gleefully sprinted into each other's arms, some with tears glistening in their eyes, Tottenham boss <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jose Mourinho</strong> looked like a man whose faith had been shaken. Two-legged European ties are his thing, his speciality. This is a man who has led Porto and Inter Milan to Champions League glory, a coach who has won the UEFA Cup with Porto and the Europa League with Manchester United.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">And yet his pragmatic approach, his willingness to protect a 2-0 first-leg lead, had failed utterly. When Dinamo took the initiative, Tottenham found that having placed the car in second gear, they couldn't shift the stick. <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mislav Orsic</strong> stole the show with a hat-trick, and Dinamo stole the tie with a 3-0 victory. Make no mistake, this is a stain on Mourinho's European record that won't wash out any time soon. Mourinho slammed his players' attitude and lack of desire after the game, but it was the post-match interview of skipper Hugo Lloris that raised the eyebrow, as it hinted at far deeper problems within the squad.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Tottenham's careless North London derby defeat at Arsenal last weekend means they go into this weekend six points off the top four, and they haven't beaten a fellow top-half side in 2021. On the road in the PL, they have won just two of their last 10, and have lost four of the last five.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Mourinho may make several changes after a return journey to Zagreb and Thursday's 120-minute horror show. <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Heung-Min Son</strong> is expected to miss out with a hamstring problem, while Erik Lamela is suspended after his red card against Arsenal.</span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Neither team can be trusted to win</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">I'm not entirely convinced by the claims of either side here. Villa have looked pretty anaemic without Grealish, and even if he features, he won't be fully fit. Villa's home form is poor, and yet Spurs have been hugely disappointing lately on their travels, and are carrying the baggage of Thursday's debacle.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Villa are <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="85/40"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3.1</span></b> in the <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.180298262" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Match Odds</a></strong> market, and Spurs at <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="6/4"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2.5</span></b>, but I'm looking elsewhere for my bet.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Goals in short supply</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Villa's solid defending and recent issues in front of goal bring the No bet in the <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.180298260" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Both Teams To Score</a></strong> market into play here at <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="11/8"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2.38</span></b>. That wager has paid out in 17 of Villa's 27 top-flight matches, and it has landed in half of Tottenham's league games. Tottenham will be terrified of losing again, while Villa are also fairly pragmatic under the likeable Smith.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Alternatively you could plump for <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/football/market/1.180298193" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Under 2.5 Goals</a></strong> at <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="1/1"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2.02</span></b>. That bet has landed in seven of Villa's last nine games.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Punchy Pierre-Emile may get carded</strong></h2><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg missed Thursday's defeat because of suspension, so he'll be pumped up and raring to go. Keep an eye on the team news, and if Grealish and Hojbjerg both start, back Hojbjerg <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.betfair.com/sport/football/english-premier-league/aston-villa-v-tottenham/30338382" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 184, 12); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">to be shown a card</a></strong> at <b class="inline_odds" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-radius: 4px; border: 0px; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" title="15/8"><span class="inline_odds__decimal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2.88</span></b>. Grealish is the most fouled player in the Premier League by quite some distance, and Hojbjerg has picked up six yellow cards in the league this season, committing the most fouls in the division.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tooLQQ8xoX8/YFbkmENxYmI/AAAAAAAAL8I/8jnMF2dJW2cQHrmpKNE-3_xJs3dRy0TZgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="480" height="390" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tooLQQ8xoX8/YFbkmENxYmI/AAAAAAAAL8I/8jnMF2dJW2cQHrmpKNE-3_xJs3dRy0TZgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h390/image.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: Noto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br /><p></p>

Aston Villa v Tottenham: Faltering duo won't entertain

Aston Villa v Tottenham: Faltering duo won't entertain It's been an awful week for Tottenham, and Kevin Hatchard doesn't reckon ...

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