Netherlands v France: 10.45pm, AD Sports 4HD
Buoyed by a 4-1 win over Bulgaria on Friday – punctuated by two goals from Kevin Gameiro after a five-year exile from the national team – France travel to Amsterdam to face a Netherlands side looking like the Dutch of old after a miserable Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. Manager Danny Blind called his side’s own 4-1 win over Belarus “sloppy”, and Dutch preparations have been dented by the news that captain Wesley Senijder will miss the match between the top two in Group A after being ruled out with a hamstring injury yesterday.
Gibraltar v Belgium: 10.45pm, AD Sports 6HD
Gibraltar’s rearguard are braced for a busy night against a Belgium side bristling with confidence following the latter’s 4-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group H, in which Romelu Lukaku (2) and Eden Hazard were both on target in Friday’s victory. That win made it two from two games for new Belgium manager Roberto Martinez and only a miracle will prevent them maintaining their 100 per cent start in Group H.
Faroe Islands v Portugal: 10.45pm, AD Sports 3HD
With four goals plundered in a 6-0 thrashing of Andorra on Friday, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo would be foolish for thinking that chances to add to his tally of 65 international goals will be easy to come by on a visit to the archipelago that makes up the Faroe Islands on Monday night. The Faroes, once the whipping boys of Europe, have made an impressive start to Group B, and sit on four points after Friday’s 2-0 win away in Latvia, one ahead of Portugal.
Sweden v Bulgaria: 10.45pm, AD Sports 5HD
Life after Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been fair to middling for Sweden since their all-time scorer hung up his international boots. Four points from two Group A outings may point to a job well done so far, it masks a laboured away win over a Luxembourg team who ended the match with 10 men and a 1-1 draw at home to Netherlands. With fellow joint-leaders Netherlands and France facing also off, Sweden can look to get their noses in front of Group A with a win.
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Cyprus: 10.45pm, AD Sports 2HD
Bosnia-Herzegovina were surprise first-timers at the 2014 World Cup and seemed, with young stars such as Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko, poised for big things. But it has not worked out that way. They failed to reach Euro 2016, and Dzeko’s star, in particular, has dimmed. They were hammerd 4-0 by Belgium last time out, and with little-fancied Cyprus visiting Bosnia only three points will be acceptable. (*Jonathan Raymond)
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