Macedonia vs Israel Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Macedonia are in for another tough couple of years in World Cup qualifying. They finished bottom of their Euro 2016 group with just four points from their ten games. This included eight defeat, with their only victory coming early on against fellow minnows Luxembourg.

This time they will be hoping to avoid the bottom spot in the group, although their chances of qualifying for their first ever finals ahead of Spain, Italy, or Albania are almost non existent. They could potentially beat Liechtenstein to 5th place though and regain a bit of pride.

It didn’t start off well for Macedonia in September though as they lost 2-1 at Albania in their first World Cup qualification match. This made it five defeats from their last six games, with the other being a 3-1 win over Azerbaijan.

Israel are doing even worse though. Their 3-1 loss to Italy made it five defeats in a row for the visitors, although their competition has been decidedly stiffer than Macedonia’s. They have played Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Belgium, Cyprus, and Wales in their last six games, whereas Macedonia’s most formidable opponent during this time was a trip to Slovenia.

Israel won’t be holding out much hope of qualifying for the World Cup in two years time either, although their 4th place finish in Euro 2016 qualifying was better than Macedonia’s efforts. The visitors managed 13 points from their ten games.

Israel may be out of form at the moment, but you can’t deny that the quality of their opposition has been far greater than Macedonia’s. They have lost four and drawn one of their last five trips away, but prior to that they won three in a row against Honduras, Cyprus, and Andorra. Macedonia have lost seven of their last ten home games too.

Not only this but Israel have won all three of their meetings with Macedonia, including two away from home. This makes odds of 6/4 for an Israel Win on Thursday look very good value, and I’m backing that along with a 2-1 correct score prediction at 9/1.