World Cup
2012-10-16 - San Marino vs Moldova
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: 2014 World Cup Qualifier
Tuesday 16 October 2012 - Kick Off 7:30pm
Preview
The two lightweights in this Group collide after both put in sterling efforts on Friday night. Neither San Marino nor Moldova are expected to be challenging for a place in Brazil, but both would have made their fans very proud with battling displays against England and Ukraine respectively.
San Marino lost 5-0 at Wembley Stadium, but they made it as awkward as possible for England and actually achieved a better result than when they were beaten 0-6 at home by Montenegro in their first game. On the other hand, Moldova would have been very proud of their 0-0 draw with Ukraine at home following a 0-5 loss to England at home and a 2-0 loss in Poland.
It is hard to see what Moldova can do in this game considering they have now just picked up 4 points from their last 2 qualifying campaigns from their away games. However, one of those results was a 0-2 win in San Marino while the other was a 0-0 draw in Luxembourg.
They will feel confident they can pick up another three points from this game as San Marino are one of the worst sides in Europe, despite their valiant effort against England.
San Marino haven't picked up a point in a home qualifier since 1993 when they drew with Turkey, while their last point overall came in 2001 as the side earned a 1-1 draw in Latvia. The closest they have come in recent qualifiers to earning a point in their home games is when they were beaten 0-1 by Finland during the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
Moldova have won all 3 previous games against San Marino, progressively increasing the scoreline. The first game ended 0-1 to Moldova, and have followed those with 0-2 and 4-0 wins over them.
Prediction
I just think San Marino put in a big effort on Friday evening and could easily have a bit of a let down performance in this one, while Moldova should have received a boost in energy from earning a 0-0 draw with Ukraine at home.
The spread on the Asian Handicap is 2 goals, but an early one could set Moldova on the way especially if there are a few tired legs in the San Marino side from their big day out at Wembley.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
San Marino 0-3 Moldova
