Soccer Betting: Saturday 16 November Euro 2020 Qualification Games

Most of the major European soccer leagues are taking the week off as qualification for next year’s European Championships—aka Euro 2020—take center stage.  Taking a look at the soccer betting odds at BetOnline.ag there are 10 fixtures set for Saturday and in this preview we’ll look at several of the best betting opportunities.

EURO 2020 QUALIFICATION GAMES SOCCER BEST BETS

SLOVAKIA AT CROATIA

Croatia is currently at the top of the Group E qualification table with 14 points while Slovakia desperately needs a win as they’re mired in the middle of the table though their 10 points has them well within striking distance.  The Slovakian side will travel to HNK Rijeka Stadium Rujevica with a fair degree of trepidation as they were bludgeoned by Croatia on their home pitch in a 4-0 loss earlier in group play.  Croatia also has their motivation as they’ll lock in a spot in the Euro 2020 event if they can manage a draw or better.  If Slovakia is to advance they will need to make history as Croatia has never lost an International game while playing in the city of Rijeka with a record of 10-3-0.  Croatia is now unbeaten in five straight and have only lost to Hungary during the qualification stage.  If there is a rap on Croatia it could be their lack of urgency—they settled for draws against overmatched Azerbaijan and Wales and could already be through to the next round had they earned the full three points from either contest.  Croatia is 3-2-0 in their last five against Slovakia and looked completely dominant when the teams played in Trnava in September.  This game could be interesting as Croatia will likely play it close to the vest with a tournament spot on the line while Slovakia needs to push the pace.

BET CROATIA -1 -132 OVER SLOVAKIA
BET CROATIA/SLOVAKIA OVER 2.5 -107

NORTH MACEDONIA AT AUSTRIA

Austria is in a similar position as Croatia in that they need only a single point to secure a spot in the Euro 2020 field.  They’re 5-1-2 in group play and after opening with a pair of losses have been unbeaten in their last 6 games with 5 wins and a draw against Group G leader Poland.  North Macedonia isn’t a bad team and are in a three way scrum for third place with Slovenia and Israel.  They lost to the group leaders in Poland last time out and that eliminated them from the possibility of qualifying for a Euro 2020 berth though it would be some measure of salvation should they be able to finish third.  In their away games during group play they were 1-2-1 which sounds better than it is—they settled for draws against Slovenia and Israel whom were vastly outmatched in terms of talent.  North Macedonia might go down without a fight here as they’re missing some of their key players including defenders Visar Musliu and Bobby Nikolov (yellow card suspensions), striker Ilija Nestorovski (suspension) and midfielder Esgjan Alioski (injury).  Hard to see them being competitive without the aforementioned quartet.    The handicap price on the game is a bit high at -1.5, -2 so we’ll focus on the total.

BET NORTH MACEDONIA/AUSTRIA OVER 3 -101

BELGIUM AT RUSSIA

Belgium and Russia made short work of Group I and have long ago settled the matter of Euro 2020 qualification.  Belgium is atop the table with a record of 8-0-0 and an astounding performance of 30 goals for and just one conceded.  Russia has also played well with a record of 7-0-1, scoring 27 and conceding just 4 long ago securing at least second place with 21 points.  There’s a big gap between the top two and third place Cyprus with 10 points.  Russia lost to Belgium on March 21 dropping a 3-1 decisions in Brussels.  This was the opening fixture of group play and they haven’t dropped a point since.  Belgium has been all but perfect since that contest taking maximum points and not conceding a goal.  Even though qualification is settled both teams should bring a strong effort in a matchup that could very well end in a draw.  If Russia is to finish atop the group they’ll have to not only win but overcome a 6 goal differential.  This means they’ll need to attack and Belgium will gladly respond in kind.

BET BELGIUM/RUSSIA DRAW +250
BET BELGIUM/RUSSIA OVER 2.5 -124