While the Welsh sporting public will be very much focused on events in New Zealand this weekend as their rugby side prepares for a World Cup semi-final, the football team can kick-off what might just be a very special few days in the Principality.
Wales’ chances of qualifying for Euro 2012 next summer have long vanished but two wins in their last three matches, either side of a very creditable 1-0 defeat at Wembley by group winners England, has provided manager Gary Speed with hope for the future and he’ll be eyeing three points in Sofia.
Victories over the qualifying chasing pair of Montenegro and Switzerland, both thoroughly deservedly, actually means Wales have a chance of finishing third in the section and that would represent a significant achievement.
Wales were awful in early stages of the campaign, losing 1-0 to Tuesday’s opponents in Cardiff, but Speed has instilled some belief in recent months and crucially Wales now have all of their key players to call upon.
With [Craig Bellamy]], Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale all supporting Steve Morison in attack, Speed has a trio of world class forwards at his disposal and it is difficult to imagine Wales not causing Bulgaria problems.
The home team, in contrast, are in disarray and the end of qualifying cannot come soon enough.
Having dismissed German legend Lothar Matthaus as coach after a run of poor results, Bulgaria were soundly beaten 3-0 by Ukraine in a friendly last week, when without a competitive fixture, and it’s now a hat-trick of losses conceding nine goals in the process.
With seven regular squad members unavailable through injury, too, and having not scored a single goal in front of their own fans for more than two years, it is very difficult to make a case for Bulgaria and the 2.10 with most firms is grossly unappealing.
In a bid to maintain the recent momentum gained ahead of qualifying for World Cup 2014 Wales are worthy of support at around the 3.70 mark and I’ll be having a sizeable lay of their opponents also. It’s the best bet on a night of tricky looking international matches.
4pts Lay Bulgaria (vs. Wales) @ 2.30 (Betfair) and 2pts Back Wales (vs. Bulgaria) @ 3.75 (various)