Football betting tips: World Cup qualifiers
1.5pts John Souttar 1+ total shot in Belarus vs Scotland (19:45) at 11/8 (bet365, BetVictor)
0.5pt Souttar 1+ shot on target at 19/4 (Ladbrokes, Coral)
1.5pts Grant Hanley 1+ total shot at 11/8 (bet365, BetVictor)
0.5pt Hanley 1+ shot on target at 11/2 (Ladbrokes, Coral)
1pt Sweden to beat Kosovo and over 2.5 goals (19:45) at 7/5 (Boylesports)
1.5pts Viktor Gyokeres to score anytime at evens (General)
1pt Gyokeres to score 2+ goals at 5/1 (General)
0.5pt Gyokeres to score a hat-trick at 28/1 (Sky Bet)
Belarus vs Scotland
- Kick-off: Monday, 19:45 BST
- TV channel: BBC Three
- Live odds, form and stats
Jake Osgathorpe
Scotland picked up what could prove to be a good point in Denmark last time out, but now must take care of Belarus, the group's minnows. They were soundly beaten 5-1 by Greece in their opener, conceding 30 shots and 3.41 xG in a poor performance.
The thing that caught my eye from that game was just how vulnerable they were from set-pieces, with both the Greek centre-backs having a field day. Neither scored, but they registered a whopping nine shots between them, hitting the target three times, so that could be an angle worth exploiting here.
Step up, JOHN SOUTTAR and GRANT HANLEY, who are both generously priced at 11/8 for just 1+ TOTAL SHOT.
Two recent Nations League games against Northern Ireland saw Belarus concede a shot to at least one centre-back in both outings, with Dan Ballard actually getting on the scoresheet, while further back into Euro qualifying, in six games against decent sides, they conceded two goals to CB's and 10 shots.
Souttar and Hanley aren't majorly prolific shooters, averaging 0.60 shots per 90 over their careers, but the former did score against Iceland in a June friendly, while the latter also had two shots in that game, and with the onus on the Scots to get a win, we should see them have plenty of opportunity to enter the mix from set-pieces.
We'll also back the pair to have 1+ SHOT ON TARGET too, rather than to score anytime, with the feeling being that even if the Scots take the lead, they'll want to keep their foot down, as qualification from this group could well come down to goal difference.
Kosovo vs Sweden
- Kick-off: Monday, 19:45 BST
- Live odds, form and stats
Joe Townsend
SWEDEN are in a fallow period in terms of reaching major tournaments, missing four of the last seven and only appearing at one World Cup since 2006.
That could be about to change thanks to a new team spearheaded by some wonderful attacking talent. Premier League trio Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Anthony Elanga’s combined transfer fees this summer amounted to £250m.
It should come as little surprise, then, that former striker Jon Dahl Tomasson chooses to rely heavily on that aspect of his side's game, with them scoring at least twice in all of their last eight competitive fixtures, with the last seven of those involving OVER 2.5 GOALS.
Kosovo, who are 66 places below Sweden in 95th in the world rankings, have seen eight of their last nine competitive matches go overs too.
I'm also happy to take the even money about GYOKERES TO SCORE ANYTIME as well as having smaller bets on him to score 2+ GOALS and A HAT-TRICK at 5/1 and 28/1.
The Arsenal striker's failure to find the net against Slovenia on Friday was only the second time that has happened in his last eight Sweden appearances.
Gyokeres has scored 10 goals in that time, taking the reputation he developed for being a flat-track bully at Sporting and bringing it to international football by putting four past Azerbaijan and bagging a brace against Estonia - both in last year's Nations League.
He has found the net more than once on 24 occasions since the start of 2023/24 and last term alone scored an incredible seven hat-tricks.
Odds correct at 1030 BST (08/09/25)
More from Sporting Life
- Fixtures, results and live scores
- Home of This Week's Acca
- Football and other sports tips
- Download the Sporting Life app
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
