5 Tips for Friday’s World Cup Qualifiers - 8/10/21

On Friday night, Latvia host the Netherlands in what is their second meeting in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers for Qatar. At Present, the Dutch are top of Group G on 13 points, whilst Latvia have eight fewer in fifth place.

The last time these two sides met was back in March when Frank de Boer was manager, overseeing a 2-0 victory where Steven Berghuis and Luuk de Jong both got on the scoresheet. Since then, the Netherlands have re-appointed Louis van Gaal and their style and form has taken a turn for the better following their dramatic exit at the Round of 16 at Euro 2020 to the Czech Republic.

Under van Gaal, the Dutch have drawn 1-1 away at Norway, as well as beating Montenegro 4-0 and Turkey 6-1, with talismanic figure Memphis Depay scoring five goals in his last two outings for the Netherlands via a brace against Montenegro and a hattrick versus the Turks, taking his international goal tally to 30 in 70 matches.

Latvia aren’t expected to get anything from the match having managed one win from their last five which came against Gibraltar via a 3-1 scoreline. They have also been hammered 7-1 by Germany and soundly beaten 2-0 by Norway and have shown along the way that they can be awkward opponents, as they earned 3-3 and 0-0 draws with Turkey and Montenegro.

Germany host Romania in the World Cup qualifiers on Friday night and alike the Netherlands, look like a significantly better side under new management, having hired former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick and are now top of Group J as a result.

In Flick’s first game in charge in September, they cruised to a 2-0 victory away at Liechtenstein thanks to goals from Timo Werner and Leroy Sane having had 30 shots and 86% possession. Following this win, Die Mannschaft put their possession to more efficient use, as they hammered Armenia 6-0, before also thumping Iceland 4-0 away from home in their last match as Serge Gnabry, Antonio Rudiger, Sane and Werner all got on the scoresheet.

Romania come into this game in decent but unspectacular form, having beaten Iceland and Liechtenstein 2-0, as well as drawing 0-0 against North Macedonia in a game where they were outplayed with 43% possession and seven shots, with the Macedonian’s having twice as many efforts at goal.

Gibraltar take on Montenegro in Group G in what is a battle of sixth versus fourth, with the hosts yet to score a point, whilst Montenegro have accumulated eight.

Bottom of the group Gibraltar have had a torrid time defensively, conceding 25 times in six matches, scoring just three times and were soundly beaten when these teams last met in March, as goals from Fatos Beciraj, Marko Simic, Zarko Tomasevic and Stevan Jovetic sealed a 4-1 win for the Montenegrins. In Gibraltar’s last three qualifiers, they have been beaten 5-1 by Norway, as well as 3-0 and 3-1 by Turkey and Latvia.
Montenegro’s last set of qualifiers in September saw them draw 0-0 with Latvia, as well as 2-2 with Turkey and lose 4-0 to the Netherlands.

Former Manchester City and Fiorentina striker Jovetic is the player in focus on this tip as he is arguably his nation’s best and most notable attacking player, having scored 27 goals in 55 caps, including against Gibraltar last time, seeing the 31-year-old Hertha Berlin forward priced at 5/2 to score first.

In Group J of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Iceland host Armenia in what is a crucial match for both sides, as Iceland must realistically win their final four games if they are to stand any chance of qualifying, whilst Armenia will be desperate to hold on to second place in the standings.

Iceland have earned just four points from six matches, seeing them sit seven points behind the visitors in fifth place. The Vikings have only won one of their last five international matches in general, defeating the Faroe Islands in a friendly match back in June 1-0 away from home, via a Mikael Anderson goal with just 20 minutes to go. Since then, they have drawn 2-2 with Poland in a friendly, as well as repeating the same scoreline against Macedonia in a qualifying match and suffered 2-0 and 4-0 defeats to Romania and Germany.

Armenia are struggling to repeat their heroics of last March, as in their last three World Cup qualifiers they have drawn 0-0 with North Macedonia and Liechtenstein, as well as being thumped 6-0 by Germany.

Neither of these sides are particularly high-scoring, as Iceland have scored six, but conceded 14, whilst Armenia have scored seven in six games, earning themselves 11 points, one more than Romania and two more than North Macedonia.

In Group H, bottom of the standings Cyprus host 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia on matchday six, with Zlatko Dalic’s side knowing that a win will put them on the verge of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Cyprus are bottom of the group having managed just four points from six games, earning their only victory via a 1-0 scoreline against Slovenia in March thanks to an Ioannis Pittas goal. Their other point came in a 0-0 draw versus Slovakia six days before their sole victory of the qualifying campaign. In September’s qualifiers, Cyprus lost 2-0 to both Russia and Slovakia, as well as 3-0 against Malta in a damaging set of results for their qualifying aspirations.

Meanwhile, Croatia have earned 13 points from six and beat Cyrpus 1-0 in their last meeting in March, thanks to a Mario Pasalic strike. The Croats have only managed eight goals in six games, so they aren’t a free-flowing side and in their last three matches, they have drawn 0-0 with Russia, as well as beating both Slovakia and Slovenia 1-0 and 3-0.