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International
Preview - 17 Nov2007
Scotland v
Italy. Saturday 15:00
Without going into too much detail about a game I'm sure most
punters are fairly clued-up about, I feel it could be worth striking
an early bet.
I've every reason to suspect this will be a cagey, nervous
affair, with 0-0 already trading as low as 8.4 on Betfair. I feel it
is worth snapping up Sportingbet's 7/1 about 'no goalscorer'. A bet
which works out better than the exchange price, when you factor in
commission and the possibility of the game being decided by an own
goal.
A point is all the Italians need here, and there's every reason
to expect that they are able to achieve their objective. Alex
McLeish is, by all accounts, still mulling over how to approach the
game. He knows that failure to pick up more than a point would leave
Scotland relying on Ukraine to beat France next Wednesday. It might
not be much but it is at least an 'out'. One that would not be
available should they allow Italy to take maximum points on
Saturday. The Ex-Rangers coach must also know that adopting a
gung-ho approach is not the way that Scotland have defeated
high-profile opponents in the past. While Italy look a shadow of the
side that won the World Cup in 2006, they are still an extremely
dangerous outfit when given the space to operate. My gut feeling is
that McLeish will approach this game like any other game against
quality opposition. ie keep things tight and look to the likes of
James McFadden to provide a Parc De Princes-esque moment of
brilliance. Sadly, chances are they've all been used up already.
Recommendation: 1 pt No
Goalscorer @ 7/1. Sportingbet.
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