Belarus v Wales Prediction: Back the Welsh to come out on top

Live on Sky Sports, Wales head to Russia to face Belarus at the Central Stadium – a neutral venue for this World Cup qualifying fixture. Both sides currently sit on three points ahead of this game, but a much needed win here for Pages’ men would keep the pressure on Czech Republic who currently occupy that second spot.

Although heading into this as strong favourites, Wales travel to Kazan with an extensive injury list which includes star man Aaron Ramsey missing out. Page will have to shuffle his side in what he’ll see as a must win in Group E. Wales played out a 0-0 draw away to Finland on Wednesday but it’s clear the focus was on this qualifier as Gareth Bale was used as a late second half substitute.

Qualification for Belarus does seem unlikely, even more so when you consider that they have only won twice across their last two WCQ campaigns. The Belarusians have had some fortune on home soil – wins vs Kazakhstan, Lithuania and Estonia will be enough to keep the Dragons wary of what the hosts have to offer.

Considering this is played on a neutral venue and Wales head into this as short as 4/7, I’m surprised to see this bet priced as high as 1.83 and will be my main play for this fixture.

This bet has landed for all of Belarus’ last three opponents and landed when these sides last met in 2019, a game where Wales won 1-0 and the corner count was 5-1. Belarus have conceded a staggering 29 corners across their last three matches and have only collected four themselves. I expect Wales to be the dominant team here and if their quality does shine through, I can definitely see them having more corners than the 11/2 outsiders.

James was rested in midweek ahead of this fixture so you would expect him to be biting at the bullet to make a difference vs Belarus. James has impressed me when I’ve see him play for Wales and seems to always find himself in good goal scoring opportunities. He adds pace to this Wales side and I think he’ll be a constant threat vs Belarus Sunday afternoon. Betfair have him best priced at 5/2 to notch anytime, so ill be having a small play on that.

One for the braver punters but a price I just can’t ignore, always find decent value dipping into these markets and here I have a 25/1 shot.

I’ve already touched on the Wales corners and the high volume of corners against Belarus. But with all being said I do fancy Wales for the win despite the injuries they have, I’d expect nothing less from a 4/7 shot.

Another stat that bodes well for this bet is that there has been at least one first half goal in 11 of Belarus’ 12 competitive fixtures. I’m not expecting Wales to run riot, but a marginal victory in each half on top of the corners feels a lot closer to home than 25/1, so this will be longshot for this fixture.