France will head to Russia 2018 as one of the favourites for World Cup glory and can warm up with a morale-boosting win over Italy in Nice. Les Bleus beat the Azzurri 3-1 in Bari when they last met in an international friendly a couple of years ago and look in even better shape now.
Sweden and Denmark are both preparing for this summer’s World Cup finals and that could lead to a cagey encounter when they meet at Friends Arena in Solna. Both teams qualified for Russia 2018 via the play-offs after producing solid, rather than spectacular, form during the group stage.
Australia can continue their World Cup preparations by drawing with a Czech Republic side rebuilding after missing out on Russia 2018. The Socceroos have a workmanlike squad and they showed plenty of resilience when holding Colombia to a stalemate in London in March.
World Cup hosts Russia could do with a confidence boost ahead of this summer’s tournament, but we fear Austria will deny them such a fillip in Innsbruck. Franco Foda’s side have beaten Uruguay, Slovenia and Luxembourg in their last three international friendlies and look a team on the upgrade.
Panama will be one of the weakest teams at this summer’s World Cup and we reckon Northern Ireland have nothing to fear from this week’s trip to Central America. Los Canaleros were thrashed 6-0 by Switzerland in a March friendly, whereas the Green and White Army pushed the same opponents close in a Russia 2018 play-off.
Peru famously beat Scotland 3-1 at the 1978 World Cup and look in good shape to prevail in this warm-up fixture ahead of Russia 2018. The South American side have beaten Croatia 2-0 and Iceland 3-1 in international friendlies since qualifying for this summer’s tournament.
We’ve looked at every summer signing made by clubs in the ‘big five’ European leagues since World Cup 2006 – including which players moved after the tournament – to see how the last three editions have influenced the transfer market.
Real Madrid and Liverpool will battle it out for European Cup glory in Kiev on Saturday and we’ve asked our Bwin blog editors for their expert Champions League final betting tips.
Coventry are fancied to secure a quick return to League One when facing Exeter in the League Two play-off final at Wembley next Monday.
Shrewsbury and Rotherham are evenly matched on head-to-head meetings this season but Town’s overall form gives them the edge in the League One play-off final at Wembley.
Kick Off: 1945, 16/05/2018 Stadium: Parc Olympique Lyonnais TV: BT Sport Trueform shows exactly how well football teams have been playing, helping you to spot potential value bets. See who has performed above expectations and which teams are being underestimated by oddsmakers. What Trueform says for Marseille vs Atletico Madrid … Read more
With the deadline for naming provisional World Cup squads fast approaching, Gareth Southgate will surely be scribbling down and crossing off names in search of the perfect combination for the plane to Russia. To assist him in his deliberations, we’ve turned to the data and come up with a simple … Read more
