“What’s that coming over the hill?”

Is it in acca? Is it an acca?

Yes, my friends, it is.

While international breaks can be annoying for football fans at the best of times (and especially so when the Premier League has gotten off to such an interesting and entertaining start) they do have one benefit…

The international acca.

I’ve spoken at length in the past about why – unlike most accas – these are such good bets, and my results over the years have borne that out.

The last time I put one of these out we were one last minute Wales goal away from winners at 10/1 and 19/1 and I have high hopes that this time we’ll land the spoils.

The bet

Here we go…

Spain to beat Cyprus

Cyprus were hammered 4-0 by Georgia last time. Spain recently beat Georgia 7-1. It’s one of a number of ‘should be’ gimmes in this bet which have low odds but combine to result in a decent pay-out.

Portugal to beat Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein have lost 21 games in a row including contests with the likes of Cape Verde, Moldova, Latvia, Andorra and Gibraltar. 

Montenegro to beat Lithuania

Montenegro still have an outside chance of qualifying for the Euros (Lithuania do not) and they were a 94th minute equaliser away from winning in Lithuania.

Slovakia to beat Iceland

Slovakia can seal qualification in this one and have home advantage having already beaten Iceland in Iceland.

Kazakhstan to beat San Marino

Kazakhstan have been surprisingly good in this qualification campaign and can still qualify. San Marino have been predictably bad.

Finland to beat Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland are not in a good place at the moment. They’ve lost all their qualifiers except for two matches against San Marino and haven’t won a competitive away game in over two years, with their sole draw coming in a 0-0 stalemate with Cyprus.

England to beat Malta

One of those no brainer odds boosts.

Italy to beat North Macedonia

Italy actually have a slightly shonky recent record against North Macedonia (they drew the away match) but with home advantage, and qualification in danger, they’ll surely get the job done this time.

Croatia to beat Latvia

The Latvians are useless, and Croatia are also in danger of missing out on qualification.

France to beat Gibraltar

See England to beat Malta.

Netherlands to beat Republic Of Ireland

The Republic Of Ireland are as bad as I’ve ever known them to be and if that wasn’t enough, in a weird qualification quirk, their chances of making it to the Euros will actually be boosted by losing this match.

The odds and the best bookie to use

That lot comes to a best priced 7/1 with Coral but I’m recommending using bet365 and here’s for why… 

1. As well as being not far off best price at 6.7/1, with bet365 you’ll also get a whopping 40% odds boost due to the large number of selections. This makes the bet great value and is a fantastic way to get some real profit out of gimme picks like France to beat Gibraltar. 
2. With bet365 you also get their ‘2 up’ promotion, whereby if a team goes two goals ahead, your bet will be a winner, even if they end up drawing or losing. This happens more often than you’d think, so is really useful as added insurance. 

BONUS (because I’m feeling generous)

As I’m in a good mood today and as researching an acca naturally reveals other potential bets, here are a few other interesting looking wagers in the first set of international matches…

Finland to beat Northern Ireland as a single (best price 22/23)

Luxembourg to beat Bosnia (best price 15/8)

Luxembourg can just about still qualify, and they have home advantage here having already won 2-0 in Bosnia.

Moldova to beat Albania (best price 9/2)

Moldova can also still qualify (yes, really!) and they’ve already beaten Poland at home in this campaign.

Armenia to beat Wales (best price 16/5)

Armenia can ALSO still qualify (yes, really really!) and they beat Wales in Wales 4-2.

To get an added edge, why not place the above selections with bet365 and add England, France, Portugal and Spain to get a 12% odds boost?

In any case, whether you decide to take any or all of these bets, I hope they provide a bit of entertainment in what could otherwise be quite a tedious week of football.

Good luck and I’ll see you on the other side.