WCQ Group B Live Streaming : Czech Republic and Bulgaria hold key to 4-way playoff fight
Bulgaria are seen as 13/10 favourites to beat Czech Republic as 4 sides battle it out to earn a place in the European leg of the World Cup playoffs.
Even though Italy has comfortably won the group, there is a still lot to play off with 4 teams all in contention of earning a spot in the playoffs.
The biggest clash of the final round takes place in Sofia where Bulgaria and Czech Republic meet in a game where the winners potential favourites to get another shot at qualifying for the World Cup.
Bulgaria are the best paced of all the sides knowing a win virtually guarantee them the playoff slot having a much superior goal difference over their group rivals.
Lyuboslav Penev will be forced to make two changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Armenia on Friday with defender Nikolay Bodurov and midfielder Svetoslav Dyakov both suspended for the clash on Tueday night.
With a home crowd hoping for progress, the pressure is likely to fall on captain Ivelin Popov to add to his 2 goals of the campaign and ensure that the home side are able to qualify for the playoffs and give Bulgaria a chance of appearing in their first World Cup since 1998.
The Czech Republic knows that they need a win and hope that Denmark don’t beat Malta to have any chance of qualifying as they sit a point behind the Danes and Bulgaria.
In what is one of the most experienced squads in Europe, the Czech side will be hoping that many of their big names such as Petr Cech, Tomas Rosicky and Jaroslav Plasil will give whatever they can in what could be the last chance they get to qualify and play in the World Cup.
There will also be some people hoping that Tomas Pekhart can get on the scoresheet in Sofia being just one of two players in the squad to have scored more than one goal all campaign.
Most of the other focus for the group will no doubt switch to Copenhagen where Denmark are likely to record a win over minnows Malta.
If Denmark beat Bulgaria’s result, then Morten Olsen’s side will reach the playoffs regardless of any other results in the group.
One slight disadvantage that Denmark has been hit by is the loss of Nicklas Bendtner who was by far the most experienced striker in the squad meaning that promising Ajax striker Viktor Fischer is likely to be given the nod up front for the tie.
In what is one of the tightest playoff deciders, many people will be keen to see what the result in Sofia will be to see which of the 4 sides will still have a shot at making it to the World Cup.
