Bulgaria vs Cyprus Predictions

Bulgaria are the early pacesetters in their Nations League group, after winning their opening two games. They have still got work to do in the coming games, Cyprus and Norway both getting points on the board early on. Both of these sides will have an eye on kicking on in this competition, given that they’re teams who tend to finish just shy of the play-off spots in regular qualifying campaigns. However, the road to Euro 2020 looks very different, and topping this group would give one of these two a play-off spot for that competition.

Bulgaria are hopeful of beating some rivals who are on their level, after a tough time in World Cup qualifying. The hosts were certainly given a test ahead of their Nations League group, after facing off with France, Sweden and the Netherlands in their push to make it to Russia. They claimed an impressive 13 points across 10 games in that pool, which certainly looked like a tough draw on paper. Having gone above and beyond there, they’ll be hopeful of grabbing promotion in the Nations League this term.

Meanwhile, the visitors were fifth in their World Cup qualifying group, falling behind the likes of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Estonia. They were nine points off the play-off spot, and that shows why the Nations League is so huge for Cyprus. However, their opening game loss to Norway has left them with an uphill battle to climb into the second tier, and now they head to Bulgaria searching for a much needed victory.

After beating both Slovenia and Norway, Bulgaria have made an impressive start. Overall they’ve managed to win four of their last five matches, and they come into this game as the form team. Cyprus didn’t do well after their World Cup qualifying campaign ended, and their poor form carried into the Nations League opener.

The hosts have won eight of their last 10 home matches, and that form has to give them confidence going into this game. Their push for Russia saw them win four of their five home games, only going down to eventual World Cup winners France. That form contrasts with the visitors, who have lost their last six trips, and 11 of their last 12 on the road. They’ve failed to score in five of their last six away games, and their record against Bulgaria is poor. The hosts have won to nil in four of their last five meetings with Cyprus, so we’re backing another home win and clean sheet here.