The Nations League is back and James Buttler casts his eyes over some of Thursday evening's matches. He tips up a Bet Builder in Scotland v Poland and finds a separate treble elsewhere.
All of the matches I'm looking at are 7.45pm kick-offs.
Scotland v Poland
Scotland drew with Switzerland, Poland drew with France. They were the solitary points the two nations took home from the group stages of the Euros. Scotland, though, have got a very good record in the Nations League (W10, D2, L4) and that's a significantly better record than the Poles.
But in 8 previous meetings, 6 have been draws. And in 7 of the 8 matches, both teams to score has landed. So a draw and both teams to score look a decent place. I've opened up the William Hill betting site and I've combined draw, both teams to score, and also the legendary Robert Lewandowski to score for Poland. That comes out at around about 7/1.
1-1 is 9/2, 2-1 is 12/1. You take your pick. I'm not going to force you to choose any of these bets. Go with your gut instinct. But those are the prices that I would recommend you put into your brain and see what comes out.
A Thursday Nations League Treble
Portugal v Croatia
The inaugural Nations League champions Portugal host the runners-up last time, Croatia.
I could bore you with loads of stats about their form, head-to-heads, everything else that could go into the mix here.
But let's just go with Cristiano Ronaldo. He's at home. He scored a million goals in international football.
Ronaldo to score again is EVS. It's happened before!
Serbia v Spain
The Euro 2024 champions Spain now embark on the challenge of defending their Nations League title with a trip to Serbia - not always the easiest place to go. Serbia looked distinctly average at the Euros with two draws and a defeat to England. Their defence was pretty good though. Spain were absolutely exceptional. I'm not expecting loads of goals in this one, so I'm just going to put Spain to win at 11/20. That's good enough for me for a treble.
Denmark v Switzerland
The draw or a narrow one goal win has happened in each of the seven meetings between these two sides. The draw has come in five of the last six. And the draw as a play is a bet that we often ignore. Draws do happen in football and in this match, it is a 9/4 shot.
James' Thursday evening tips
Draw, BTTS and Lewandowski to score in Scotland v Poland @ 7/1
Ronaldo to score, Spain to win and the draw in Denmark v Switzerland @ 9/1
Enjoy the football, good luck with your bets and please, as always, gamble responsibly.