Bulgaria vs Holland Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Bulgaria missed out on Euro 2016 by quite a stretch as they finished 4th in their qualifying group but some eight points off the playoff position of 3rd. Their chances of making amends and going to Russia next summer don’t look much better either, as they are in a group with France, Holland, and Sweden and there is just one automatic qualification position.

At the moment Bulgaria sit down in 4th again, with their six points behind four fewer than leaders France. They are only a point adrift of Holland in 2nd place though, so a win on Saturday could give them a fighting chance of making it to the World Cup.

Their last outing saw them beat Belarus 1-0 at home, bouncing back from consecutive defeats away to France and Sweden. Prior to that they had kick-started their campaign with a 4-3 win over Luxembourg. In total there have been 16 goals scored in Bulgaria’s four qualifying matches, so we could be in for an entertaining match here.

Holland’s last outing was a 3-1 win away to Luxembourg, which came just a couple of days after they earned a draw at home to Belgium in a friendly. In total they have won two, drawn two, and lost two of their six games since the summer tournament ended.

Unfortunately for the Dutch, they weren’t involved in that tournament after a dreadful qualifying campaign saw them finish 4th in their qualifying group, behind Czech Republic, Iceland, and Turkey. So far things are going better this time around, but their draw away to Sweden and their loss at home to France are slightly worrying.

The visitors undeniably have a talented attacking outfit, and against the lesser teams they do tend to do well. Bulgaria are certainly one of these lesser teams, and the fact they have conceded 21 goals in their last six matches suggests that this could be a high scoring game.

Five of Bulgaria’s last six outings have seen at least three goals, as have three of Holland’s last six. The three lower scoring games that Holland were involved in were all against much better defensive sides, so odds of 9/10 for Over 2.5 Goals look good value and I’m going for that alongside a 3-1 win for the visitors at 12/1 for my correct score predictions.