Lessons learnt from the weekend's football
Even with no England or Premier League action this weekend, there were still plenty of things to be learnt from events all over Europe. Here are four things we noticed...
Windsor Park is a hard place to get a result
Almost exactly five years after their 1-0 victory over England, and four since they beat Spain 3-2, Northern Ireland got another famous result, with a goalless draw against Italy on Friday. When there is a full house in full voice, there can't be many more intimidating places for visiting teams than Windsor Park.
Can Northern Ireland go one better away to Faroe Islands? They're [1.36] to win.
France like to leave it late
Since succumbing to a 1-0 defeat in their opening game against Belarus, thanks to an 86th minute Sergei Kislyak strike, France have left it rather late in getting things back on track. Their 2-0 win against Bosnia was goalless until the 72nd minute when Karim Benzema found the net, while their 2-0 win over Romania had to rely on a couple of goals in the last ten minutes. Things are never dull in French football...
Will they score earlier against Luxembourg? They're [1.18] to win at half-time and full-time.
It's going to be a disappointing qualifying campaign for Wales
Every ten years or so, Wales mount a genuine challenge to qualify for a major international tournament. In November 1993 they just missed out on qualification for USA 1994 after a 2-1 defeat to Romania, while in 2003 they lost a play-off for Euro 2004 qualification 1-0 against Russia. With opening defeats against Montenegro and Bulgaria so far, the 2014 World Cup looks like their next chance to make it to a final.
Can Wales get things going against Switzerland? They're [8.8] to get their first win of the campaign.
England really do have an easy group
No side in England's group have shown anything so far that should unduly worry Fabio Capello and his men. It looked easy before a ball had even been kicked, but now it looks embarrassingly so, thanks to Wales' toothless 1-0 defeat to Bulgaria, and Montenegro's insipid 1-0 win against Switzerland.
Will England sweep aside Montenegro? They're [6.4] to win 2-0.
Published: 11 Oct 2010
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