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Tight defences the key to our International mid-week acca

| 10.09.2013

As nations hold their breath, hoping their sides can qualify for Brazil 2014, we have put together this tasty little four-fold that pays over 8/1.

Russia to beat Israel (3/10)

The Russians are a fearsome bunch on their own patch, winning nine and drawing five of their last 14 home games, conceding just seven goals in the process. A win here would really put the pressure on Group F leaders Portugal. Barring three wins over weak opposition in the last year, Israel aren’t particularly strong travellers and will surely fall to Fabio Capello’s side without much resistance.

Switzerland to beat Norway (13/8)

After throwing away a 4-1 lead to draw with Iceland at the weekend, Switzerland will be bang up for this. A win would put them within touching distance of a place at next year’s World Cup, so no encouragement is needed. They are unbeaten in 11 and are the value to just edge it against an inconsistent Norwegian line-up that hasn’t recorded back-to-back competitive home wins in two years.

Iceland to beat Albania (11/10)

Lars Lagerback’s Iceland side showed their doggedness when coming back to level things up against Switzerland, and can keep their hopes of a play-off place alive with a victory over Albania in Reykjavik. The visitors aren’t big scorers so may rely on a tight defence to secure a point. But with Alfreo Finnbogason and Kolbeinn Sigborsson scoring for fun in the Eredivisie, the Icelandics have just the attacking threat to break through for the victory.

Greece to beat Latvia (2/7)

Greece are a mean defensive side having kept five clean sheets in their last six home games. It will take a strong strike force to claim victory in Pireaus. Unfortunately for Latvia, that isn’t something they possess. They have only scored more than one goal in this qualifying campaign once, and are all but out of the running. The home side are level on points with Bosnia at the top of Group G, so if they are to qualify for Rio automatically, a win looks a necessity here.

 All odds and markets correct as of the date of publishing

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Author

Ben Stones

Ladbrokes News’ equine expert, Ben likes nothing more than studying the form to pick out a winner or two for our readers. A Journalism and Media Studies graduate from the University of Winchester, Ben has previously written for a number of football and racing blogs and websites, as well as contributing to the sports pages of his home-town newspaper.