Saturday Football

Excellent work: 100% from Tom here, as Macedonia beat Scotland 1-0, and Wales were only able to beat Azerbaijan 1-0.

While there are “no easy games” in international football these days it doesn’t get much simpler than Andorra and England should steamroller their opponents this Saturday evening. A best price of 1.02 tells its own story and it will be a straightforward victory for Capello’s men. Only a convincing triumph will do, however.

Elsewhere it looks significantly more challenging for the other Home Nations and Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland will do well to start their World Cup qualifying campaigns by picking up three points. The Welsh are the only one of the trio to enjoy the luxury of home soil but Azerbaijan will be no pushovers and I expect a tight encounter.

John Toshack’s side have been hit badly by injuries and he currently faces the prospect of having to start with Ched Evans and Sam Vokes in attack. A promising duo they may well be, but with just two international goals between it won’t fill Wales fans with much confidence and the manager will be hoping that Robert Earnshaw passes a late fitness test. He has started the season in fine form for Nottingham Forest and if he is to make it then that would soften the blow of having already lost Bellamy and Eastwood.

With other injury doubts over the likes of Koumas and Ledley a win is far from a formality against a resolute Azerbaijan side and it may take a while for Wales to find the breakthrough, if indeed they do at all. The 1.40 certainly looks plenty short enough about a home win and their opponents did enough in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign to suggest that they may well be capable of a point.

Azerbaijan were far from disgraced against the likes of Portugal, Poland and Serbia and Wales are certainly a couple of levels below that calibre of opposition. The home side lost to Georgia in their most recent warm-up game and I’ll be backing Azerbaijan on the handicaps. I’ll still be collecting even if they go down by a single goal and I’m not sure Wales are good enough to find the net twice.

While Wales could struggle on their own patch, Scotland look to have their work cut out in Skopje on their travels. Macedonia are a side that are improving with every qualifying campaign in which they take part and who can forget them frustrating England when limiting the Three Lions to a 0-0 draw Old Trafford.

While you’d be forgiven for thinking that any side could hold England to a goalless draw if they came for one, Macedonia managed to get the better of Croatia in Group A in November and I put them on a par with their opponents on Saturday.

George Burley, still seeking a first win since taking over, also, like Toshack, will have to cope without a number of key men, including Barry Ferguson, and I’ll be surprised if they come away with a victory. At 3.00 for a home win, it’s worth chancing the Scots not only drop points but suffer defeat in their opener.