Previews

France bid to finish off Irish

Author: John Harris
Date: 18/11/2009
Football betting

Following Saturday's European World Cup qualifying first leg play-offs, the outcome of these eagerly anticipated ties will be decided on Wednesday.

The Republic of Ireland have a tough test ahead of them as they aim to overturn a 1-0 deficit following their first-leg defeat at Croke Park, Dublin.

France, the sportsbook favourites to grab another win, looked a class above Giovanni Trapattoni's team at times and, although their goal was courtesy of a fortunate Nicolas Anelka deflected effort, Raymond Domenech's men look to have one foot in South Africa.

Trapattoni will be hoping Irish eyes can smile once more in Paris, but he will need more from Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle, if they are selected to feature.

Meanwhile, Ukraine host Greece after their promising goalless draw in the first leg in Athens.

Andriy Shevchenko and his men could count themselves unlucky not to have grabbed a vital victory but a lack of a cutting edge proved to be their downfall.

They will be confident of qualifying for their second World Cup finals after finishing behind England in the group stage.

Greece will be pinning their hopes on former Manchester City striker Georgios Samaras.

If the stalemate in the Greek capital is anything to go by, the striker will need to significantly improve in the second leg.

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Russia take a slender 2-1 advantage from the first leg when they face Slovenia in Maribor after the tables were turned late in the day at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Saturday.

Dimitar Bilyaletdinov grabbed both goals to put the Russians in complete control but a late Nejc Pecnik strike gave the unfashionable nation hope.

It could have been even better for the European minnows had it not been for Igor Akinfeev's stunning stop that denied centre-half Marko Suler an equaliser deep into stoppage time.

Portugal play Bosnia-Herzegovina in Zenica with a single-goal cushion from their narrow 1-0 success on Saturday evening.

The hostile and partisan crowd will add spice to the clash and the hosts, with talent such as Edin Dzeko, Zvjezdan Misimovic, Sejad Salihovic and Vedad Ibisevic, could shoot their way to an unexpected World Cup finals slot at the expense of an at best average Portuguese side who will again be without the talismanic but injured Cristiano Ronaldo.

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