✅Iceland vs Wales
✅UEFA Nations League, KO: 19:45 Oct 11, 2024, Laugardalsvollur
✅Iceland go head-to-head against Wales on Friday. Read our Predictions and Betting Tips with Match Preview, Head-to-head stats (h2h) and Team Form Analysis.
Our prediction for this Nations League match:
Friday’s football game at Laugardalsvollur pits together Iceland and Wales, the two teams who are eyeing a top-two finish in Group 4. Iceland kicked off their UEFA Nations League campaign in style, beating Montenegro 2-0 at home, but they struggled defensively in a 3-1 loss to Turkey. Even though talented Lille midfielder Hakon Arnar Haraldsson remains in the recovery room, we predict that the hosts are going to grab something from the match as they are tough to beat in Reykjavik.
The Dragons, on the other hand, aim to build on a 2-1 win over Montenegro. Connor Roberts has overcome his injury, while veteran Joe Allen has been reintroduced by boss Craig Bellamy, who believes that Allen still has plenty to give. Anyhow, a close encounter is on the cards at Laugardalsvollur and we are tempted to place our bets on draw. You should know, though, that Wales have defeated Iceland in each of their last three meetings in all competitions.
How the bookies view it: Dragons backed to keep roaring
This is a tricky one to call with Wales in decent form and Iceland usually pretty strong at home. Bingoplus price an Icelandic win at 7/4, with the Dragons favourites at 29/20 and the draw paying 21/10.
Iceland vs Wales Prediction
Wales will hope to keep the unbeaten record alive in this term of the UEFA Nations League on Friday evening.
They head north to tackle Iceland in Matchday No 3 of Group D in League B. The Dragons have managed a win and a draw in the maiden two matches.
They stared with a goalless stalemate to Turkey before beating Montenegro 2-1 on the road last month.
Kieffer Moore and Harry Wilson were the scorers in a match in which Wales managed only three shots on target.
Iceland began the campaign with a 2-0 home win over Montenegro but they produced a horrendous performance in a 1-3 defeat away at Turkey in the second round.
Iceland were toothless in the final third, while allowing the Turks over 20 shots on the occasion.
We all know Wales for their defensive prowess. You should not be surprised to see that three of their last five outings across competitions ended in goalless draws.
The streak includes the Euro qualification playoffs final against Poland, a tie that the Welsh team lost on penalties to miss out on the major tournament.
Iceland were not in Germany last summer either after a woeful qualifying campaign ij a fairly easy group with Portugal, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Liechtenstein.
The Icelandic outfit lost three of the last five matches but they’ve managed to beat England 1-0 on the road in an exhibition along the way.
Wales have dominated this matchup in recent history, winning four games in a row against the Icelandic team.
We will back the visitors to claim the spoils here at the odds of 2.60, while the Under 2.5 goals FT pick represents the best betting option for this match by some distance at the 1.65 odds.
Head to head: Welsh seeking a high five
Wales have dominated this fixture, winning their last four games against Iceland and losing just once in all seven meetings. They last faced off in a friendly back in 2014, with the Welsh winning 3-1 in Cardiff. They edged a 1-0 win on their last trip to Iceland in 2008.
Highlighted Team (Iceland):
Iceland had little to no success during the first 60 years of entering the FIFA competitions, failing to qualify to a single major tournament in that period, but the team then went on to make tremendous progress at the start of the 21st century.
The Nordic side narrowly missed out on a place at the 2014 World Cup, losing in the play-off to Croatia, but they then enjoyed a thoroughly impressive qualifying campaign to reach the Euro 2016, taking 20 points from 10 matches to leave Turkey and Netherlands trailing in their wake.
As a result, the generation featuring players like Gylfi Sigurdsson, Aron Gunnarsson, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Emil Hallfredsson will go down as one of the most successful in the national team history and it could be quite some time before another team repeat their success. Even if he was only used as a bit-part player during the Euro 2016 qualifiers, Eidur Gudjohnsen has got to be mentioned as the first Icelandic footballer to have played for top European sides.
Players to watch: Johnson is buzzing
Few players will have reported for international duty in better club form than Brennan Johnson. The winger has scored in his last six games for Spurs and is 5/2 with 777PUB to grab a goal for Wales here.
Iceland will be looking for wonderkid Orri Oskarsson to do a bit of damage after his displays for Copenhagen earned him a move to La Liga with Real Sociedad. The 20-year-old has already netted twice for his new club and is 9/4 to score against Wales.
Probable line-ups
Icelandic could field the same side who beat Montenegro at home, with all those starting players named in their squad for this game.
Wales should be along similar lines to their win over the Montenegrins, although Johnson should start here instead of coming off the bench after his electric form for Spurs.
Iceland: Valdimarsson, Sampsted, Hermannsson, Tomasson. Gretarsson, Sigurdsson, Thorsteinsson, Thordarson, Anderson, Gudmundsson, Oskarsson.
Wales: Darlow, Mepham, Williams, Davies, Ampadu, Rodon, Roberts, Wilson, Johnson, Cooper, Moore.
