5 Tips for Friday’s International Action - 3/6/22

In the first of our tips for Friday’s international football matches, Belgium hosts the Netherlands in Group A4 of the UEFA Nations League.

This is a clash between two of Europe’s most talented squads, with both sides possessing some of the continent’s most notorious stars. The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard will be turning out for Belgium in Friday’s clash, and the Netherlands have players such as Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Arnaut Danjuma to call upon for this one.

That is why we think both teams will score in this game – the talented players in their squads.

But, we are backing Roberto Martinez’s side to come out on top in this one, with the Belgians possessing more firepower in their ranks than the Dutch – Man City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has scored 20 goals in 49 games for club and country this season, and bagged in Belgium’s last match against Wales in a World Cup qualifier, and we expect him to work more of his magic on this game.

To further reiterate the point that this game will be full of goals, four out of the last five meetings between these two countries have seen both sides score, with Belgium coming out on top in those five matches with two wins, with the other three finishing in a draw.

Our next tip sees Denmark taking on the current World Cup holders France at the Stade de France in Group A1 of the Nations League.

We are backing Kylian Mbappe, who recently bought the transfer saga surrounding him to an end by renewing his deal at PSG, to score in this match and continue his sublime goalscoring form this season.

The Frenchman has scored 39 times in all competitions for PSG this season and has managed to bag in four of France’s last five matches. Wins against Spain and Finland saw Mbappe get his name on the scoresheet once, but against South Africa, he bagged a brace and he scored an astonishing four in an 8-0 rout of Kazakhstan in World Cup qualifying.

Denmark have won just two of their last five matches, and have conceded seven times in those five matches so expect Mbappe to exploit the Danes’ leaky defence. Another thing that points to a France win is their record against Denmark – France have won three of their last four matches in this fixture, with the last time the Danes picked up a win against France coming all the way back in 2002.

Austria travels to Osijek on Friday evening in Group A1 of the UEFA Nations League to take on Croatia, but we are expecting it to be a disappointing trip for Ralf Rangnick’s side in the third of our tips.

Austria’s last international fixture was against Scotland in the final week of March, a match that ended in a 2-2 draw. The draw followed a 2-1 loss to Wales the previous week, with Austria winning their two matches before the clashes against Wales and Scotland.

Rangnick's men come into the clash in inconsistent form, which does not bode well for a match against a Croatia side that has picked up four wins in their last six outings. And of even more concern for Austria will be the fact that they have failed to beat the hosts in their last five clashes, with defeats in 2000, 2001, 2006, 2008 and 2010 for Austria.

We expect that to give Croatia confidence coming into this match, as will the players they can call on. Luka Modric is just fresh off winning the Champions League with Real Madrid and Kristian Jakic won the Europa League with Frankfurt, while Ivan Perisic confirmed a move to Tottenham Hotspur this week.

Our next tip is an International friendly match between Mexico and Uruguay.

It is difficult to predict who will come out on top in this one, but there should definitely be some goals in this clash. Both sides are qualified for the World Cup after finishing in the top three of the confederation’s qualifying phase, with Uruguay finishing third behind Brazil and Argentina on 28 points, and Mexico finishing second behind Canada also on 28 points.

Both sides also have similar qualifying records, with each picking up eight wins and four draws. And both sides have scored a similar amount in their last five international matches, with Mexico scoring five and Uruguay scoring eight.

And the head-to-head record between these two sides is also close, with Uruguay just edging them out with three wins to Mexico’s two in their last five clashes. So, it is difficult to tell these two sides apart, but we know that there should be goals in this one, especially with players like Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez and Raul Jimenez all likely to be playing.

It is a clash of the minnows in the last of our tips for this Friday’s international fixtures.

Moldova will travel to Vaduz to take on Liechtenstein in Group D1, one of the lowest-ranked groups, and both sides will be looking to get a win in this one to get a strong start in the Nations League ahead of Latvia and Andorra, who join these two in Group D1.

As expected, both sides come into the clash in awful form, with five consecutive losses from their last five matches for both sides.

However, Liechtenstein actually have a win more recently in the Nations League than their opponents, with a 2-0 win over San Marino in September 2020 in the second year of the tournament being played.

This will give them some confidence going into the match, as will the head-to-head record between the two countries. Both sides played out a 1-1 draw in 2015, but Liechtenstein won the only other match played between the two countries, picking up a 1-0 win in 2014. And it is these previous results that we think will help Liechtenstein to a nervy victory in this match.