UEFA Nations League Preview and Tips for Matchday Three

From Thursday through to Saturday, Matchday Three of the new UEFA Nations League competition will take place with plenty of games involving many teams across Europe across the three days of action. No sooner will this end, but Matchday Four will begin, with another set of games across all four Leagues running from Sunday through to Tuesday next week.

It’s a hectic period for international managers who only have the players for just over a week, during which they have to play at least one and in some cases, two very tough games in this new competition.

Let’s now take a look at the fixtures for each of the first three days of action which comprise Matchday Three. We have also outlined our selections for the Full Time Result market, with odds provided by bet365, and we have given you our reasons for each, as well as putting together what we think is a good value accumulator bet from some of the more reliable selections each day.

Remember, if you are not yet a bet365 Sport customer, you can sign up today via the latest bet365 Sport New Player Bonus, which offers you a little extra when you join.

Thursday 11^th October

• Faroe Islands v Azerbaijan – Draw – 21/10
• Israel v Scotland – Away Win – 17/10
• Kosovo v Malta – Home Win – 3/10
• Lithuania v Romania – Away Win – 8/15
• Montenegro v Serbia – Away Win – 19/20
• Poland v Portugal – Home Win – 19/10
• Russia v Sweden – Home Win – Evens

There’s a couple of eye-catching games at the bottom of this list, notably Russia’s clash with Sweden, two teams who made the World Cup quarterfinals, while Poland’s game with Portugal should also be a closely fought contest. I’ve gone for home wins in both these games though as I think Portugal are sorely lacking when Cristiano Ronaldo does not play, while Russia have proven to be very strong on home soil in recent times. The other game to watch here for me is Scotland’s trip to Israel, where I am backing the Scots to get a decent result to make a solid start in Group 1 of League C.

Our Top Tip Fourfold Accumulator for Thursday

• Lithuania v Romania – Away Win
• Montenegro v Serbia – Away Win
• Poland v Portugal – Home Win
• Russia v Sweden – Home Win

If you placed this bet with bet365 Sport at the odds shown (which were correct as of 1pm on Wednesday 10^th October), then for a £10 stake, you would receive back £163.40 if your bet was a winner, plus you would also get your £10 stake returned too.

Friday 12^th October

• Austria v Northern Ireland – Home Win – 11/20
• Belarus v Luxumbourg – Home Win – 8/13
• Belgium v Switzerland – Home Win – 9/20
• Croatia v England – Draw – 9/4
• Estonia v Finland – Away Win – 5/4
• Greece v Hungary – Draw – 13/5
• Moldova v San Marino – Home Win – 1/12

The big game for England fans is their game with Croatia, a re-run of this summer’s World Cup final, although both teams will be much-changed from that game with several players missing from each squad through injury, retirement or simply not being selected. I do fancy England to get something from that game but I think a draw is clearly the best option. I think Belgium will continue to show their class at home to Switzerland and I think they’ll win that comfortably, while Northern Ireland face a tough task in Austria against a team that I think is the best in their three-team group.

Our Top Tip Accumulator for Friday

• Austria v Northern Ireland – Home Win
• Belgium v Switzerland – Home Win
• Croatia v England – Draw
• Greece v Hungary – Draw

Stick a tenner on these selections at bet365 at the odds shown and your £10 stake would return you winnings of £252.90 should the bet be a winner and you would of course still get your stake returned to you too.

Saturday 13^th October

• Slovakia v Czech Republic – Draw – 23/10
• Armenia v Gibraltar – Home Win – 1/14
• Georgia v Andorra – Home Win – 1/7
• Latvia v Kazakhstan – Draw – 9/5
• Norway v Slovenia – Home Win – 4/6
• Bulgaria v Cyprus – Home Win – 1/2
• Macedonia v Liechtenstein – Home Win – 1/10
• Holland v Germany – Draw – 5/2
• Republic of Ireland v Denmark – Away Win – 7/5

There’s a slightly larger selection of games on Saturday with Holland v Germany being the standout fixture. The Dutch don’t have a great record against Germany in recent times, but the German’s well documented problems in the World Cup don’t seem to have improved a great deal in the meantime and the Dutch may well fancy their chances here, although I see this game very much as a draw. The Republic of Ireland will face Denmark minus the Danes’ key man Christian Eriksen, but even so I still fancy a well-organised Danish side to get the job done against a very inexperienced Republic team. The other interesting game this weekend pits two neighbours against each other as Slovakia take on the Czech Republic in what should be another cracking game between two well matched and rival teams.

Our Top Tip Accumulator for Saturday

• Slovakia v Czech Republic – Draw
• Norway v Slovenia – Home Win
• Holland v Germany – Draw
• Republic of Ireland v Denmark – Away Win

This final fourfold accumulator for Saturday will pay out at the highest of all odds in the three I’ve put together for this week. A £10 bet on the selections above at the odds shown at bet365 would mean a total profit of £451.90, should your bet be a winner, plus you’d get your £10 stake money back on top of those winnings too.

Matchday Four Fixtures

Following straight on from these fixtures will be another three days of games which will comprise Matchday Four for teams. Odds on these games will be made available as the three days of Matchday Three are completed. The fixtures for the games on Matchday Four are outlined below together with our tips for the result of each game.

Sunday 14^th October

• Romania v Serbia – Draw
• Azerbaijan v Malta – Home Win
• Faroe Islands v Kosovo – Draw
• Russia v Turkey – Home Win
• Israel v Albania – Draw
• Lithuania v Montenegro – Away Win
• Poland v Italy – Draw

Monday 15^th October

• Belarus v Moldova – Home Win
• Bosnia & Herzegovina v Northern Ireland – Home Win
• Estonia v Hungary – Away Win
• Finland v Greece – Draw
• Iceland v Switzerland – Draw
• Luxembourg v San Marino – Home Win
• Spain v England- Home Win

Tuesday 16^th October

• Kazakhstan v Andorra – Home Win
• Armenia v Macedonia – Draw
• France v Germany – Home Win
• Gibraltar v Liechtenstein – Away Win
• Latvia v Georgia – Away Win
• Norway v Bulgaria – Draw
• Republic of Ireland v Wales – Draw
• Slovenia v Cyprus – Home Win
• Ukraine v Czech Republic – Home Win