WC Qualifiers: Wales vs Czech Republic Preview, Odds, Prediction

Wales and the Czech Republic feature in the derby of Tuesday’s World Cup qualifying matches. The two sides meet at Cardiff City Stadium in a game that might have massive implications on the final standings. Wales lost the opener against Belgium, while on the other side, the Czech’s started with four points from two games, holding off the Red Devils in Prague this weekend. These two teams haven’t had a meeting in a long time, which makes Tuesday’s contest even more interesting.

Preview

Wales (+185) lost in Belgium at the start of the qualifiers, 3-1, even though they took the lead early on, hitting the target inside the first 10 minutes. Yet after that, the Red Devils showed their true face and rolled over the guests, not giving them the slightest chance for staying undefeated.

Three days later, the Dragons bounced back with a victory over Mexico, 1-0. The sole scorer in that event was Kieffer Moore, who recorded a goal in the 11th minute. We need to say that the Mexicans were a better side here, having the higher share of the ball, and creating more opportunities in front of the Welsh goal.

Wales’ defense is superb at home, allowing just one goal over the past five games. Also, they would post one draw and four wins during that stretch.

Czech Republic (+155) comes as a slight favorite, and judging by the way this unit played in the opening two rounds, this status is pretty reasonable. After trashing Latvia on the road, 2-6, and playing 1-1 against Belgium, Jaroslav Šilhavý’s team created a huge momentum.

Overall, they are without a loss in the past four games, having three wins before the above-mentioned draw vs. Belgium. A very interesting thing is that the Czechs don’t have a single draw on the road in the previous 10 matches – five wins and losses each.

They don’t have some pattern we could rely upon when looking at the efficiency. They usually adapt to the opponents and wait for the opportunity to strike from the counter-attack or a set-piece.

Latest News

Joe Allen is probably out for the hosts due to an injury picked up against Belgium. Apart from him, there aren’t any absences in the Welsh crew.

As for the guests, they have all the called-up players at their disposal. So far, there weren’t any developments that might make an impact on the starting lineup.

Head to Head Games

The two most recent competitive games between Wales and the Czech Republic were in the 2006/07 EURO qualifiers. The Czech Republic won at home, 2-1, while the game in Wales ended without goals.

Prediction

As said before, this is a very important game for both teams, and the significance of the same will reduce the efficiency, that is for sure. Wales already plays low-scoring games, while on the other end, the Czechs come to Cardiff to defend and to take one point. Because of all that, under 2.5 goals is the best possible solution here, with the odds set at -166 right now. Go for it, don’t hesitate too much.