Prediction: Wales vs Bosnia-Herzegovina

After suffering a real scare in the 2-1 victory over Andorra, Wales aim to keep their qualifying hopes alive with a strong performance against Bosnia-Herzegovina at the packed Cardiff City Stadium. Their opponents are desperate to make amends for the shock defeat to Cyprus, which is enough to suggest we could see a very interesting game.

Wales national team have been closing the gap behind Europe’s top sides over the last few years and the number of quality players at Chris Coleman’s disposal continues to increase. Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey remain the first names on the teamsheet, but the Dragons now have plenty of quality in all areas of the pitch. The team continue to struggle when several important players miss out, but that is when Gareth Bale usually comes to the rescue. Wales needed their star player to score two goals to beat weak Andorra in their opening Euro 2016 fixture, but they obviously hope to perform much better in front of packed stands at the Cardiff City stadium. Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey will not be able to help his teammates in what is a very important match, while Joe Allen, James Collins, Paul Dummet and Lee Evans are also out. With Gareth Bale on one flank and the likes of Davies and Taylor on the other, Wales could prove very dangerous in wide positions, especially since Bosnia full-backs Lulic and Vrsajevic are not exactly impeccable in defence. However, the hosts are likely to find it hard to contain the likes of Dzeko, Ibisevic and Pjanic, meaning we could easily witness a high-scoring encounter.

Bosnia-Herzegovina have been living the dream during the summer having qualified for their first ever World Cup finals, but the general impression is they could have done better in Brazil. The team also nicknamed the Dragons were somewhat unfortunate to lose the crucial group game against Nigeria, meaning they had to return home after the group stage. Safet Susic’s side then completely outclassed Cyprus at the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, but they somehow lost the game despite taking the lead, with Miralem Pjanic missing a last-gasp penalty. However, the attacking potential they showed in that match as well as at the World Cup finals is enough to suggest they can cause all sorts of problems to Wales on Friday night, with Ashley Williams admitting he always found it hard to play against Edin Dzeko. Bosnia will be without key defender Emir Spahic, who was forced to withdraw due to a back problem, with Goran Zakaric missing out as well. Having suffered an unexpected defeat to Cyprus, the Dragons will be looking to make things right by winning in Wales, and no doubt they are set to adopt attack-minded approach.

Conclusion

This may be a high-profile match but I fully expect both teams to use every opportunity to attack the opposition and try and secure what would be very important victory. Seeing as how both Wales and Bosnia have plenty of attacking potential, over 2.5 goals looks like the obvious choice.

Verdict: Over 2.5 goals

Best Odds: 23/20

Bookmaker: William Hill