Wales v Switzerland betting tips: Dragons aim to defy odds once more
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Preview and odds for Saturday’s match
Wales were surprise semi-finalists at the European Championship five years ago and begin their bid to make history once more against Group A rivals Switzerland in Baku.
The initial aim again will be to qualify from a group which also contains Italy and Turkey and both teams will think they have a good opportunity to make a winning start.
Saturday’s match is live on BBC One and kicks off at 2pm as we highlight a few potential Wales v Switzerland betting tips.
Wales v Switzerland match odds
Wales are favourites to finish bottom of Group A but will have high hopes of defying the odds once more.
Their preparations have not been ideal, with regular coach Ryan Giggs absent due to his court case, so Robert Page has the chance to lead his country throughout the tournament.
There is a sense this team does not possess as much talent as the one which beat Belgium in the quarter-finals in 2016 and Wales go into their opening match as the 13/5 underdogs.
Switzerland won their qualifying group, clinching top spot in the final round of matches ahead of Denmark and the Republic of Ireland.
That was followed by some impressive performances against Germany and Spain in the Nations League and they are currently on a six-match winning run, which is 6/5 to continue while the draw is 19/10.
Wales have scored the first goal in nine of their last 10 competitive matches, though, with the exception being a goalless draw against the Republic of Ireland, and the Dragons are 6/4 to roar first again.
Wales v Switzerland head-to-head
There are no recent meetings to help punters in terms of Wales v Switzerland predictions, with the last meetings coming during qualifying for Euro 2012.
The home team came out on top on both occasions, with Wales being thrashed 4-1 away despite Gareth Bale’s equaliser and then gaining revenge with a 2-0 win at home against the 10-man Swiss with Bale again on target after Aaron Ramsey opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
Four of the last five meetings have ended 2-0 to either team and Switzerland are 8/1 to win by that score this weekend while Wales are 16/1.
Previous XI
Switzerland: Mvogo, Mbabu, Schar, Omeragic, Comert, Freuler, Zuber, Sow, Shaqiri, Mehmedi, Gavranovic.
Team news
Aaron Ramsey has won his fitness battle for Wales. He sat out the penultimate training session on Thursday after building up his fitness in recent weeks, but will be involved either from the start or off the bench.
Key battles
Bale continues to be the main man for Wales and should be fresh having been used relatively sparingly by Tottenham this season following his loan move from Real Madrid.
He has a good record of producing the goods when most needed by his country and Bale to score in a Wales win can be backed at 4/1 while he is the same price in the first goalscorer odds.
Switzerland’s squad lacks that kind of stardust but Xherdan Shaqiri will be out to prove his best days are not yet over and they have a solid goalkeeper in Yann Sommer of Borussia Monchengladbach, with Switzerland 6/5 to keep a clean sheet.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
