World Cup Qualifiers

Group 1 looks one of the most competitive on paper but that should only really concern the scrap for second place and I make Portugal excellent 2.00 shots to end the section on top.

With just the first placed sides from each pool assured of a place at South Africa 2010 there can be no let up throughout the qualifying campaign and Carlos Queiroz, the ex-Manchester United assistant of course, has inherited a wonderfully gifted squad from Felipe Scolari. They caught the Germans on a rare going day at Euro 2008 in the quarter-finals and should be able to cope without Cristiano Ronaldo for their opening fixtures against Malta and Denmark.

The fight for second place is bound to feature Sweden and Denmark but the former are clearly past their best while the 1992 European Champions are still building for the future. With Deco pulling the strings in midfield and goals from seemingly every position, the Portuguese look good things and warrant a serious wager.

In Group 4, I can’t quite believe the price discrepancies between Germany and Russia to finish top of the pile. Their respective performances at Euro 2008 were there for all to see and once again we were reminded how Russian football is thriving at present last Friday when Zenit lifted the Super Cup.

Russia have a squad of wonderfully gifted players, and a superb manager in Guus Hiddink, but Germany really struggled in Switzerland-Austria. Despite reaching the final, they failed to establish any fluency whatsoever and at 3.75 Andrei Arshavin’s side must be a bet. They’ll be desperate to secure a place at the World Cup finals and, on the evidence of last summer, thoroughly warrant a place in the line up.

If you are looking for a team at a huge price that might cause a shock then step forward FYR Macedonia. Goran Pandev, the Lazio striker, is a genuine top class talent and I think that he and his side will have their sights set on second place in Group 9.

Holland should progress as winners but they can be vulnerable in qualifying campaigns and the 67.0 about Macedonia topping the section is daft. It is one of the weakest pools and I’m happy to take a punt at silly prices to small stakes. They are quite a bit shorter in places.