World Cup
2008-09-06 - Macedonia vs Scotland
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
Macedonia v Scotland
Saturday, 6 September
City Stadium, Skopje
Kick Off 15:00
Niko is an active forum member and Macedonian supporter - so bear that in mind. He knows the sides - but he may also have a bias.
;-)
Macedonia
Macedonia gets into this game highly optimistic about its chances.
Since this is group with only 5 teams (along with Scotland, Holland, Norway and Iceland) every point is very important in order to qualify for World Cup 2010.
Macedonia will play with its strongest line up for this match, but most recent news is that the defender Goran Popov (plays in Heerenven) has injured himself today at training and surely will be out and won`t play.
Macedonia will start this match in formation 4-4-2 which might transform into 3-5-1-1 with one top striker in front – SS Lazio`s Goran Pandev and one playmaker behind him. Pandev is regarded as one of the greatest Macedonian footballers of all time – not surprising given his record of 41 goals in 128 games so far for Serie A Lazio and has the necessary experience for this type of important matches.
Other striker that will support Pandev in front is Ilco Naumoski (plays in Austria for Mattersburg), he is tall and fast player and could cause trouble taking off the Scottish defenders` attention of Pandev.
The defense is also a good part of the Macedonian national team. Best defensive player in the squad is the captain Goce Sedloski (Mattersburg) who also shoots free kicks well and have scored some spectacular goals (he scored with a 30 meter free kick in Zagreb against Croatia) so he might be also used as secret offensive weapon depends on how the match goes.
Nikola Noveski (plays in Mainz) also stands out from behind and his task is to stick with the best opposing striker. He probably will be on Kenny Miller, since he has huge experience guarding the strikers in the physical Bundesliga.
The weakest link in the Macedonian squad is the midfield. The midfielders seem to lack condition and creativity and they often fail to provide useful balls to the strikers. Most of the midfielders do not get much playing time in their clubs and that is obvious.
Sometimes the defenders are taking off their role and that is why the midfield is weak. One player that stands out in the midfield is Velice Sumulikoski (plays in Ipswich). He is good player, usually plays 90 minutes for Ipswich one player is cannot produce by himself and needs more support.
Scotland
What to say about Scotland?
In the past qualifiers and other matches we have seen Scotsmen struggling against Lithuania, Georgia or even Faroe Islands and then go in Paris and beat France! It seems that the Scottish national team lacks motivation against less attractive opponents then the bigger sides.
Major blow for Scotland is absence of Berry Ferguson although he will be coming to Skopje “to lift the spirit of his team”, also David Marshall (Norwich City), David Weir (Rangers) and Garry O'Connor (Birmingham City) have withdrawn from the squad. Goalkeeper Jamie Langfield (Aberdeen) and Kirk Broadfoot (Rangers) have been called up.
10 players named in the squad for the World Cup qualifying double-header against Macedonia and Iceland featured in the clash at Celtic Park, which saw Rangers run out 4-2 winners. Biggest fear will surely come from Kenny Miller who is in great shape and has proved that last Sunday.
I was surprised to see Scotland’s coach Burley saying that “Macedonia are favorites in this game. They have very good players and nine of them who played against Luxembourg also played against England and consistency of selection brings about consistency of results.
Okay, they drew with England but they beat Croatia and you will see when Croatia play England in their group how good they are. So we have to respect but not fear Macedonia. A draw's not a good result but it's not a bad one because Macedonia will definitely take points from other teams. “I don`t think he means this, I think he said this just to release pressure on his men by the media and the public in Scotland.
Daren Fletcher, Gary Naysmith, Gary Caldwell, Scott Brown, Barry Robson and Kevin Thomson are also very well studied and will be watched out by the Macedonian players as players that stand out.
FORM
Macedonia last matches :
Aug 20, 2008 Friendly Luxembourg 1-4 Macedonia
May 26, 2008 Friendly Macedonia 1-1 Poland
Mar 26, 2008 Friendly Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-2 Macedonia
Feb 06, 2008 Friendly Macedonia 1-1 Serbia
Nov 21, 2007 Euro2008 Qualifier Israel 1-0 Macedonia
Nov 17, 2007 Euro2008 Qualifier Macedonia 2-0 Croatia
Scotland last Matches
Aug 20, 2008 Friendly Scotland 0-0 Northern Ireland
May 30, 2008 Friendly Czech Republic 3-1 Scotland
Mar 26, 2008 Friendly Scotland 1-1 Croatia
Nov 17, 2007 Euro 2008 Qualifier Scotland 1-2 Italy
Oct 17, 2007 Euro 2008 Qualifier Georgia 2-0 Scotland
Oct 13, 2007 Euro 2008 Qualifier Scotland 3-1 Ukraine
THE VERDICT
Bottom line Macedonia is a decent home side and prepares a lot for this match taking it very seriously because next Wednesday Holland will be coming in Macedonia and its very hard to take out points from mighty Holland that is why I think that backing Macedonia is worth a punt.
If Macedonia beats Scotland then everything is possible in this qualifiers and it will be great boost before the match against Holland.
The Pick :
Macedonia 2-1 Scotland (or 1-1 draw)
BEST BETTING TIP :
Macedonia double chance 1X @ around 1.50 - 1.60 is fair and/or other bet to consider is Goran Pandev to score anytime.
