Wales vs Finland

Wales’ World Cup qualification hopes are in tatters after a 2-0 home defeat by Finland. It was a great result for Total Gambler readers though as our lay of the Welsh came in. Tom Allen was adamant that they were priced incorrectly by the bookies and he was proved right.

A gift from the football odds compiling gods this Saturday and I can’t believe how short Wales have been put in to claim victory against Finland. John Toshack’s side are distinctly average and while Finland are no world beaters they usually prove tough to beat.

Wales’ price this weekend is surely down to their courageous effort in Germany last time out, when they were only denied by a late Piotr Trochowski winner, but their performances prior to that are more indicative of their chances on Saturday. Wales battled past Azerbaijan, prevailing by a single goal, and struggled to get the better of whipping-boys Liechtenstein.

While the future looked bright for Welsh football a couple of seasons ago the likes of Gareth Bale, Chris Gunther and, to a lesser extent, Aaron Ramsey have all failed to take the step up to the next level as was anticipated and that leaves Toshack with just Craig Bellamy as the only player of any recognised, and more importantly, proven quality. The Manchester City striker is a doubt for the upcoming clash however and if he were to fail a fitness test then it is almost impossible to envisage where the goals will come from.

With Russia also in Group Four, Guus Hiddink’s men have beaten both Wales and Finland on home soil already, the two teams on Saturday know that anything less than three points is probably not enough if they harbour any realistic qualification hopes and I wouldn’t be totally surprised to see the visitors emerge with a victory. Their English coach Stuart Baxter has one of the most experienced squads in the competition at his disposal but also one sprinkled with quality too.

Baxter is able to call upon the ever reliable Jussi Jaaskelainen in goal and following Finland captain Sami Hyypia’s excellent form for Liverpool when needed this season a way through for the hosts looks like a difficult task. Joonas Kollka who, like Hyypia, has in excess of 90 caps still runs the midfield and with Mikael Forssell, Jonatan Johansson and the emerging Djurgardens’ forward Daniel Sjolund available in attack they also possess a goal threat.

Finland’s capabilities were very much evident in their thrilling 3-3 draw with Germany in Helsinki and with the evergreen Jari Litmanen still in reserve, if need be, I think they have the edge over Wales. Petri Pasanen, the imposing Werder Bremen defender, is another to keep an eye on and it will be a shock if the hosts can find the net more than once with such limited resources.

I just wish I could lay the 5/6 about Wales at William Hill. An utterly incredible price.