Wales v Slovakia
Euro 2020 Qualifiers – 2.00 pm
Sky Sports
Wales start their Euro 2020 Qualification campaign with a home game against Slovakia on the weekend. They warmed up for this with a home win over Trinidad & Tobago in midweek, a game which Wales won 1-0. The Dragons rested Gareth Bale for that. That midweek win is just one of two that Wales have recorded in their last six games played, losing the other four in that sequence.
In the Nations League, they finished second behind Denmark, leaving Ireland to take the relegation drop. Wales have lost two of their last three home games. Those were a Nation’s League game against Denmark and a friendly against Spain. Slovakia finished bottom of their Nations League group behind Ukraine and Czech Republic. They have suffered three losses in their last five (W1 D1). Slovakia lost their one previous visit to Wales back in the Euro 2018 qualifiers. The two met at Euro 2016 with Wales winning 2-1. The Welsh are 11/10 to edge this one at home with leading bookies.
Exeter v Bath
Premiership Rugby – 3.00 pm
BT Sport
League leaders Exeter will be looking to further strengthen their position in the title race. They head into the weekend with an eight-point lead over Saracens, the form of their title rivals having fallen away substantially. The Chiefs themselves are now on a three-match winning streak since a loss against Gloucester back in round 13. So they have recovered well and it has been over a year since they lost at home in the league. The Chiefs are 1/5 odds-on with leading bookmarks to win this fixture.
Exeter are on a four-match winning streak against Bath in the league as well. The Chiefs took a big 42-29 win over them the last time that they visited. Bath are W2 L2 in their last four Premiership fixtures, but they showed up big time in the last round of action. They produced an 18-9 home win over Saracens, which did Exeter in turn, a huge favour. So can Bath raise their game again? Leading bookmakers have them at 10/11 to cover a +11 point handicap.
San Marino v Scotland
Euro 2020 Qualifiers – 3.00pm
Sky Sports
There was a perception that Scotland’s loss in Israel during the 2018 Nations League was about as bad as it gets. It wasn’t. The Scots went to Kazakhstan on Thursday night to start their Euro 2020 qualification campaign, keenly looking to get some early positive momentum going. It didn’t happen as they found themselves 2-0 down inside ten minutes. Scotland tamely crumbled away to a 3-0 defeat. That was against the side ranked 117th in the world. That’s 67 places beneath Scotland. That was Kazakhstan’s fifth win in their last 38 competitive home matches.
Where Scotland turn to next after being second best in all departments in that game, remains a mystery. They do have to rally themselves quickly as they visit San Marino on Sunday. This was just about the easiest start to Scotland’s qualification campaign that they could have made. But now huge pressure is on them. San Marino lost 5-0 in Cyprus in their qualification opener on Thursday. Scotland are still fully expected to win this. They are P4 W4 without conceding against San Marino in the head to head. Both of Scotland’s previous visits there produced 2-0 wins. Leading bookmakers have priced up 6/1 for a repeat of that in the correct score market. There is going to be some interesting best bets of the day going on in this match.
Netherlands v Germany
Euro 2020 Qualifying – 7.45 pm
Sky Sports
This is going to be a big highlight of Sunday’s Euro 2020 qualifiers. Germany had a nightmare in the Nations League. They failed to win any of their four games against the Netherlands and France. During that campaign, they suffered a big 3-0 reverse out in Amsterdam. So Germany will be fully aware of what is waiting for them as they make a quick return there. The Netherlands are 7/4 with leading bookmakers to produce a repeat home win.
In the other game between these two in the Nations League, the Dutch picked up a good point in a 0-0 draw away from home against Die Mannschaft. Germany have only taken two wins in their last eight games now and remember they failed to get out of their group at the 2018 World Cup. The Netherlands meanwhile are on the up with just one reverse in their last nine games. In their last four games, they have faced Germany twice, have beaten France and drawn with Belgium. They took a good W2 D2 record from that sequence.
