Prediction: Albania vs Bosnia-Herzegovina

8th October 2010

Albania will try to build on their great start to the qualifying campaign and produce another strong performance at home against their rivals for the second place in the group, but they’ve got to be wary of Bosnia, one of the sides with the best attacking potential in Europe. Following the defeat to France, the Bosnians need a victory here in order to get back on track.

Albania are one of those average European sides that tend to show some potential every once in a while but their inconsistency is preventing them from making a serious challenge for the place at a big tournament. Albania were placed in a very difficult group during the World Cup 2010 qualifiers and no wonder they were pretty disappointing during the campaign, although they did achieve a couple of respectable results. This campaign has started much better for Albania as they brought a point from Romania, albeit with a big smile from Lady Luck, before recording a narrow win over minnows Luxembourg. The hosts now face certain problems before this match as their head coach Josip Kuze misses out through illness, while key defender Curri is also unavailable.

Bosnia have been making steady progress over the last few years and they came really close to playing at the World Cup in South Africa. Following the impressive qualifying campaign, then Ciro Blazevic’s side were eliminated by Portugal in the knockout stages, but it was the solid performances in the World Cup qualifiers that put the national team on the football map. Meanwhile, Safet Susic took over the reigns, inheriting an excellent squad with star players Dzeko, Misimovic, Pjanic, Ibisevic, and he had a very good debut with his side easily beating Luxembourg away from home. Then came a home defeat to France that set them back a little bit and now Bosnia need to win in Albania in order to return to contention for the top two places in the group. With boss Susic set to choose from a fully fit squad, Bosnia’s superior technical qualities and impressive attacking potential should give them the extra edge over the opponents and help them win this game.

Conclusion

Albania have shown some potential lately but they are simply too inconsistent and not good enough to be considered a match for Bosnia side who proved all their potential during the last few years. While I expect a tight game in Albania, Bosnia still look like a very good bet here.

Verdict: Away win Bosnia (2)

Best Odds: 3/2

Bookmaker: William Hill