Sporting Life
Tuesday best bets - 17 October

Football tips, predictions and best bets: Euro 2024 qualifiers for Tuesday 17/10/23

By Sporting Life
19:45 · TUE October 17, 2023

Football betting tips: Euro 2024 qualifying

1.5pts Hungary to win to nil vs Lithuania at 5/6 (BetVictor, Boylesports)

1pt Slovenia to beat Northern Ireland at 5/4 (Betfred, Coral, Ladbrokes)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair

Lithuania vs Hungary

Jake Osgathorpe (@JAKEOZZ)

Hungary are nearly there.

They top Group G with a three point cushion to second-place Serbia, over whom they also have a superior head-to-head record, meaning a win on Tuesday will book their place in Germany.

Lithuania are their opponents, and while the minnows - ranked 143rd out of 207 in the FIFA World Rankings - did win their last game against Bulgaria, the group-leading Hungarians should have no issues in Kaunas.

Marco Rossi's side have kept clean sheets in three of their five games to date, the two in which they failed to manage to do so coming against a stacked, front-foot Serbia team, with Hungary shipping a combined 1.92 xGA in their other three group contests.

Lithuania's attacking capabilities are nowhere near that posed by the Serbians, and given they have breached 1.0 xGF in only two of six group games, it's hard to see them pose many issues for Hungary here, so backing a HUNGARY WIN TO NIL appeals.

Let's not forget, this Hungary team managed to beat England to nil twice just last year, as well as Germany in the Nations League, which just underlines their level.

Northern Ireland vs Slovenia

Jake Osgathorpe (@JAKEOZZ)

Northern Ireland's qualifying campaign has been a disaster. The gulf between them and the four teams above them is vast, nearly as big as the gulf between themselves and whipping boys San Marino.

They have only scored in one of their five matches against the other sides in the group, and visiting SLOVENIA should add to the woes of Michael O'Neill's side by WINNING at Windsor Park.

Finland and Kazakhstan have already triumphed on Northern Irish soil, and Slovenia have shown themselves to be a much better outfit than that pair, with a win in this game all-but-securing a place at Euro 2024.

The Slovenians have averaged 1.59 xGF and 0.79 xGA per game, losing the xG battle only once in the campaign when facing the higher-ranked Denmark, so are well set to take maximum points on Tuesday.

Odds correct at 1450 BST (16/10/23)

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