Long-time readers of the Bet Chat and, before that, the Betting Rant, will know that over the years I’ve excelled in three specific areas of betting…
The first is National Hunt racing festivals, such as Cheltenham (and indeed, our Windecate service was again hugely profitable this year).
The second is ante-post Premier League betting.
The third is international football accumulators and, guess what, today they’re back!
It’s been a long time since the last one as the Nations League doesn’t really lend itself to acca bets (closely matched sides and teams not taking it seriously) and so it’s with genuine excitement that I welcome the start of Euro 2024 qualifying this evening.
The Bet
My bets are always run of the mill accumulator bets (all selections must win to be successful) and my first attempt this international break is as follows…
Bosnia to beat Iceland. Bosnia are pretty good at home and usually come close to qualifying. Iceland are no longer as strong as they were in the early 2010s glory days and they especially struggle on their travels.
Denmark to beat Finland. The Danes had a poor World Cup but, that aside, they’ve been extremely strong in recent years and home advantage should see them to three points this evening.
Portugal to beat Liechtenstein. An extremely short price but that doesn’t mean it isn’t value. Portugal WILL win.
Northern Ireland to beat San Marino. San Marino are now 127 games without a win, recently failing to win against St Lucia twice and at home to the Seychelles.
Greece to beat Gibraltar. The Greeks won their Nations League group, and the Gib(let)s just aren’t very good.
Serbia to beat Lithuania. A game that I may be slightly wary of if the Serbs were away but they’re not.
Scotland to beat Cyprus. Yes, I’m trusting the Scots (eek!), but they have actually been pretty good of late and, although the Cypriots do have a shock result in them, it generally comes on home turf.
Switzerland to beat Belarus. The Swiss are a qualifying machine, recently finishing ahead of Italy in World Cup qualification. The Belarusians aren’t very good.
Romania to beat Andorra. Andorra are one of the less terrible of the terrible European nations but, San Marino and Moldova aside, they’re still without a qualification win since 2017. They also lost their most recent friendly against Gibraltar.
Croatia to beat Wales. The Welsh were rubbish at the World Cup and are in transition. The Croats are at home.
Spain to beat Norway. Spain are at home and Haaland is out injured.
Optional extra
France to beat Netherlands. A little risky as France always have a rick in them in qualifying but they are at home and Netherlands are missing Cody Gakpo plus all their decent goalkeepers. Adding France roughly doubles the odds.
The Odds
I’m betting with bet365 as they offer an accumulator bonus of a whopping 40% for the 11 team option and 50% for 12 teams.
The price for the former (not including the bonus) is 10.42/1.
The price for the latter (not including the bonus) is 18.98/1.
Good Luck!
