North Macedonia v Malta – Betting Preview
North Macedonia will begin their bid for a spot at Euro 2024 on Thursday by hosting Group C’s underdog Malta in Skopje.
The hosts will be eager to score the most points possible as they start their quest to go to a second consecutive European championships in a section that contains 2021 finalists England and Italy.
North Macedonia Preview
Twenty teams will qualify for the finals by finishing in the top two in qualifying, but only three more will join those nations and the hosts via the playoffs.
Although they have recently defeated both Germany and Italy as their star began to rise, North Macedonia may already be considering the latter path to UEFA’s international extravaganza given the difficulty of their draw.
Following the Balkan nation’s tournament debut at Euro 2020, and their ensuing triumph against Germany in Duisburg, they came within 90 minutes of qualifying for last year’s World Cup; however, Blagoja Milevski’s team lost to Portugal at the last hurdle after sensationally eliminating Italy in Palermo.
After a poor Nations League season in League C, North Macedonia have only won two of their previous nine competitive matches. They ended 2022 with a humiliating 3-1 home loss to Azerbaijan.
Malta Preview
Malta, which is now ranked 167th in the world and has never advanced to a major final, so it should come as no surprise that their goal in the qualifications will be to find new talent and get a few points.
The Falcons placed second in their Nations League group last year, just ahead of San Marino, after losing both games against the eventual winners by a score of 2-1. But, there have been some encouraging signs for the Mediterranean underdogs.
While they ended their 2022 schedule with a loss to the Republic of Ireland in Ta’Qali, their autumn friendlies against Israel and Greece resulted in a 2-1 victory over the former and a respectable 2-2 tie with the latter.
Malta may now view their two matches against North Macedonia as their best opportunity to achieve a solid result under new management as Group C favourites Italy and England are set to contend with Ukraine for automatic qualification for the finals.
1×2 Betting Odds
Let’s begin analysing the 1×2 market
On the first day of their Group C campaign in 2023, North Macedonia ought to return to winning ways after a fresh start. While Malta has recently made some progress, the home team has considerably higher quality players at their disposal as well as top-level experience.
And the betting market agrees! It is indeed the home side who are marked as the favourites to win @ 1.40.
The still inexperienced away side is not given much of a chance with market odds @ 9.48.
The possibility of a stalemate stands @ 5.07.
Total goals over/under
Let’s check the over/under scenario
The odds that the total number of goals scored will be over 2.5, stands @ 1.88.
While the odds that the total number of goals will be under 2.5, stands @ 2.05.
Given the gap in quality between the two sides, expect a few goals to be scored by the home side in this one!
