Monday - Moldova v Albania
MOLDOVA V ALBANIA (MONDAY)
Albania’s performances have improved greatly since the sacking of Christian Panucci
Under new coach, Edoardo Reja Albania have won 2 of 5 with their only losses coming against high-level opposition (France, Turkey, and Iceland)
In their last road game (1-0 loss to Turkey) they were very much on par for the majority of the game. In terms of chances both sides created an equal amount (xG 1.23 -1.15)
Manaj (Albania) had one of the worst misses I’ve seen all year in that match, had he converted his chance in the 76th minute this whole group could have a completely different complexion right now
Albania went on to lose that game in the 90th minute after defender and GK collided and left an open goal.
Prior to that solid was another very solid performance as they trounced Iceland 4-2
When Albania played Moldova last time out, Albania won 2-0 generating 1.73xG to Moldova’s 0.6
Chisinau doesn’t seem to be a tough place to go to pick up a good result, From the last decade they have won just two Euro qualifiers at home, they came against San Marino and Andorra. The same goes for World Cup qualifiers, they’ve only won once at home in the last decade and that came against San Marino again.
Moldova have conceded 2+ goals in all of their last 7 meetings with teams ranked 70 or higher in the FIFA rankings
Finally, in terms of motivation I give the edge to Albania too, they’re still in with a chance for qualifying and this is a very winnable game for them.
Verdict: I have this match lined at around 1.65 in Albania’s favour so the current odds appeal for a medium-sized bet
Recommended Play
Albania to win at 1.92 with various books – 3 units