WQPO RoundUp 12 11 09

Road to South Africa nears the end!

Soccer betting odds from bwin, for Saturday’s World Cup Qualifying matches.

There are still six World Cup places up for grabs and over the next week 12 teams will battle it out to try and book their place in South Africa next summer, writes Rob Treloar…

Four of the six play-off matches are between European nations, with the first legs taking place this weekend. The biggest match is undoubtedly between the Republic of Ireland and France at Croke Park in Dublin. France have had a disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign, finishing second behind Serbia in Group 7. Raymond Domenech has come in for a lot of criticism from the French media and public and if he fails to guide ‘Les Blues’ past Ireland he will surely find himself out of a job. By contrast Ireland enjoyed a fairly successful campaign, pushing reigning World Champions Italy close for top spot in Group 8 and finishing comfortably above Bulgaria. Giovanni Trapattoni’s side are certainly capable of beating France over two legs and with players like Shay Given and Robbie Keane in good form, France will need to be at their best if they are to make it to South Africa. Of course, the 2006 World Cup finalists will be favourites to win in Dublin on Saturday, with bwin they are priced at 27/20 and with Thierry Henry and Karim Benzema likely to lead the line for France, Ireland will have their hands full. Henry is priced at 7/5 to score at any time, while Benzema is 8/5. However, there is value in and Ireland win, especially at Croke Park, and the home side are priced at 39/20. The draw is 43/20.

Get great odds on all the World Cup qualifying matches with bwin!

Elsewhere Portugal face Bosnia Herzegovina. Portugal almost missed out on the play-offs altogether but a late run of results helped them to clinch second place ahead of Sweden in Group A. Portugal were hoping Cristiano Ronaldo would be fit enough to play some part in the two-legged tie with Bosnia. But the Real Madrid man still hasn’t recovered fully from an injury he sustained playing in the Champions League at the end of September. However, even without Ronaldo, Portugal should be strong enough to see off Bosnia, especially at home. The Portuguese are huge favourites at 9/20 while Bosnia are 11/2 for an away win, with the draw priced at 63/20.

Greece and Russia and both favourites to win the first leg of their ties with Ukraine and Slovenia respectively. Greece are 6/5 to beat Shevchenko and co, while Guus Hiddink’s side are priced at 8/25 for a home win over Slovenia.

Outside of Europe, Costa Rica and Uruguay go head-to-head for a World Cup spot. Uruguay narrowly missed out on automatic qualification, losing to Argentina in their final match. They now face a tough task as Costa Rica are a powerful team with World Cup pedigree. Uruguay are slight favourites priced at 7/5 to win in Costa Rica, while the home side are priced at 7/4, with the draw at 23/10.

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