Qatar vs Sweden

23/01/2012

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As usual, full coverage of the African Nations will continue in the members section if anyone is interested in betting on this tournament.

Today’s secondary featured game is the International Friendly between Qatar and Sweden.

This game is being played in Doha, Qatar, so the advantage lies with the hosts. It’s not boiling in Qatar right now but a temperature of around 19 degrees is expected and that’s enough to unsettle the Swedes, in my view, given that most of them ply their trade in Sweden at lower temperatures.

Can Qatar take advantage of that though? Probably not. From what I’ve seen of Qatar, they find it very hard to score goals and not through a lack of firepower, either, but more a lack of creativity. Nationalised Argentinian striker Soria can put the ball in the net but if there’s no service then there are no goals; it is that simple. Defensively, though, Qatar are hard to score against and I respect that. They’ve kept four clean sheets in their last five home games and a good number of their home games go under 2.5 goals as a result. Qatar aren’t a very interesting side from what I’ve seen but they’re mind-numbing enough to make sure that their goals generally go under 2.5 goals, which is subsequently what I expect here.

Sweden have brought a decent squad out for this game but nothing more than that. Most players are Allsvenskan-based and they showed that they can do a job against Bahrain lately, albeit with the help of their opposition being reduced to ten men. However, they’re short on experience and that again makes this a very hard game. European opposition are somewhat predictable, if even more difficult to stop, but Asian opponents are very hard to break through. Sweden have Anders Svensson at their disposal if they need an old hand to unlock a stubborn defence but they don’t have a great deal else to choose from. They’ve still got pace and potential in their ranks, especially in the shape of Elfsborg Boras hot prospect Claesson. Is it enough to destroy Qatar, though? Not really, in my view.

I’d probably not bet against Sweden winning this one but their odds are short and thus I don’t like the 1×2 market. However, again, going under 2.5 goals appeals to me here, just as it did for their previous game. I think it’s priced way too generously with the above in mind and thus under 2.5 goals is my call here.

Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at evens.

Monday’s Picks

As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!

African Nations:

Gabon vs Niger (5) 0-0
Morocco vs Tunisia (6) 1-0

Internationa Friendly:

Qatar vs Sweden (5) 0-0

Cypriot Division 1:

Ethnikos Achnas vs AEK Larnaca (6) 1-2

English Championship:

Southampton vs Leicester City (4)

Israeli Ligat Ha’al:

Maccabi Haifa vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv (6) 2-1, at least one red card in this game

Portuguese Liga Sagres:

Olhanense vs Sporting Clube de Lisboa (4) 1-1

Spanish Primera Liga:

Villarreal CF vs Sporting Gijon (4) 1-1

Enjoy your free betting tips!