Sports Blog 10/10/2017: Football Preview – FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Tuesday 10th October 2017

There are still a few potential twists left in UEFA’s World Cup qualification this Tuesday, especially in Groups A and B.

Let’s start with the latter first. Currently Switzerland sit atop Group B, 3 points ahead of Portugal; the pair face-off for automatic qualification at 7.45pm on Sky Sports Football.

The Portuguese campaign has almost been flawless – they’ve won 8 out of their 9 games, scoring 30 goals while conceding just 4. And yet, it’s not been enough. That’s because Switzerland have been one of the dark horses of the European qualifiers, winning all 9 of their games so far. The only other side with a better record is 2014 World Cup victors Germany, who took 30 points from 10 games, and even then the Swiss could equal that on Tuesday.



That 3 point divergence can be traced all the way back to last September, where Switzerland shocked Portugal, fresh off their Euros victory, with a 2-0 win in Basel. And since then, the Swiss have been as reliable as one of the nation’s proverbial clocks, meaning, despite a rampant Cristiano Ronaldo – who’s scored 15 goals in qualifying – Portugal have been unable to break their stranglehold at the top.

Yet that could all change on Tuesday. A far superior goal difference means Ronaldo and co. could squeak a 1-0 home win and break Swiss hearts, stealing automatic qualification and forcing their opponents into a guaranteed place in the play-offs. Sadly for Vladimir Petkovic’s side that looks like the way it’ll go, with Spreadex offering a Portugal/Switzerland Goal Supremacy spread of 0.8-1 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.4-2.6

As for Group A, there are a couple of different scenarios that could happen, some more ridiculous than others. France currently top the group on 20 points, just 1 ahead of Sweden and 4 ahead of the Netherlands.

The French will have automatic qualification sewn up if they can beat Belarus. Yet while a France/Belurus Goal Supremacy spread of 3.1-3.3 suggests that’s almost guaranteed, Didier Deschamps’ side could only manage a 0-0 draw last September.

A similar result this time out – or, obviously, a shock loss – would give Sweden a chance to go top thanks to their superior goal difference. That goal difference, inflated by an 8-0 win over Luxembourg last week, makes things nigh on impossible for the Netherlands.

If they beat the Swedes they’ll be level on points; however that’s not good enough. The Dutch need to beat Sweden 7-0 to just reach the play-offs, something a Netherlands/Sweden Goal Supremacy spread of 0.5-0.7 and Total Goals spread of 3.2-3.4 suggests, if there was any doubt, isn’t really feasible.