Armenia V Bosnia & Herzegovina
Sunday 8th September 2019 – 14:00 Kick-Off
UEFA Euro 2020 Qualification
Pick: Under 2.5 Goals
Odds: 4/5
Bookmaker: Betfair
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 47/20 | 53/20 | 21/20 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 6th September 2019 at 11:55)
Preview: There can be no doubts about it, this is a match both sides simply must win if they are to retain any genuine ambition of qualifying as one of the two best teams in Group J. Bosnia are six points adrift of second place, with Armenia a point further back, so this game in Yerevan will have plenty at stake.
Euro 2020 Qualifying Betting – 22Bet
Armenia Preview – Only a win will keep alive faint qualification hopes?
Just when a revival appeared to be in motion, along come the highest ranked team in the section to scupper everything. Armenia had responded well to successive defeats in their first two Group J matches, when losing 2-1 in Bosnia before failing to even score in a home loss to Finland (2-0), by winning their following two encounters with Liechtenstein (3-0) and Greece (2-3). The latter being particularly impressive with it being in Greece.
Any momentum that appeared to be building, though, was seemingly dashed as recently as Thursday, when Italy came to town and left with maximum points in a 3-1 victory that essentially killed off any remaining hope the Armenians might have been harbouring regarding qualification. The sending off of forward Alexsandre Karapetian certainly didn’t help their cause, and with the scores locked at 1-1 at the time it certainly altered the balance of proceedings.
The gap between themselves in fourth and the top two in the group now stands at six points and is surely too much of a gap to bridge. All they can do is try, beginning with this return meeting at home to a Bosnian side who beat them earlier in the campaign. Three wins from their last ten games at home (W3 D3 L4) means they cannot really be relied upon to do so, though, especially as two out of those three victories came against the same outfit – a team currently rated as only the 182nd best football nation in the world, Liechtenstein.
Bosnia Preview – Can they end a barren five-game away run?
It took an awfully long time for them to work their way through the gears and finally make their superiority tell but Bosnia condemning the weakest nation in Group J, Liechtenstein, to a big margin of defeat means they remain just about in contention as far as securing a top two finish. The deficit between them and the leading two does currently stand at five points though, so there can be no margin for error from here on out.
What always looked a home banker eventually transpired to one, with Bosnia putting five goals past a poor Liechtenstein outfit who had, to their credit, kept the scoreline to only 1-0 up until the 80th minute. It was a goal blitz thereafter, though, as the Bosnians netted four times inside the final ten minutes to finish with a 5-0 rout that helped them climb above their opponents here into third place.
The top two of Finland and Italy face each other later in the day, so this is a valuable opportunity to make up vital ground for Roberto Prosinecki and his players. Although this is a side with only two wins in its past seven games (W2 D2 L3), and who have failed to win a single one of their most recent five away internationals (D2 L3). They will arrive in Yerevan having already lost away in the group to Finland (2-0) and Italy (2-1) to make it three away defeats on the spin (they also lost 1-0 in Spain last November in a friendly).
Armenia V Bosnia Key Facts:
- Armenia have won three of their past ten home games (W3 D3 L4).
- Bosnia have failed to win any of their previous five away encounters (D2 L3), failing to score on four occasions.
- This will be their second meeting in Group J of Euro 2020 Qualifying, with Bosnia prevailing 2-1 at home earlier in the campaign.
Betting Summary
If Armenia weren’t already on the precipice of elimination, they sure are now. Defeat to Italy (1-3) a few days ago has left them languishing in fourth position in Group J, some six points adrift of the leading two. They are, however, only one behind their opponents here, a Bosnian side who did beat them 2-1 in Sarajevo earlier in the campaign. Yet defeats in two out of their three home qualifiers thus far, albeit versus the top two sides currently in the section, suggests this could be another difficult outing.
To be fair, Bosnia are only one point better off at this stage than Armenia, yet the Bosnians have been in the qualifying conversation in some of their recent campaigns and would appear better equipped to mount another push. Victory here, over a team they beat 2-1 at home in their first group fixture, could see them move to within three points of automatic qualification. Though this is a team which has failed to win any of its last five away encounters.
Neither are prolific. Bosnia have failed to score at all in four of their last five away encounters, while Armenia’s recent home form is flattered by wins against some less than impressive sorts. They did draw a blank at home to Finland earlier in the campaign, and somehow failed to net at home to Gibraltar, Estonia, Lithuania and Moldova in 2018. Under 2.5 Goals has solid claims.
