Get On The Goals In Wales v Cyprus

Wales can build on their solid start to Euro 2016 qualification by putting another three points on the board here…

Form
There were many more positives for Chris Coleman to take from Friday night’s draw with Bosnia & Herzegovina, and although immediately after the game there was some disappointment in the Cardiff air, at the end of the campaign they could well look upon it as a very important point.

For a period either side of the interval, it looked as though it would only be a matter of time before the visitors took the lead, but Wales grew in confidence as the match progressed and Gareth Bale put in another world class performance in a red shirt and could have won it late on.

What the draw did do is extend Wales’ home record to four matches unbeaten, while they’ve now lost just one of their last seven at any venue.

Cyprus, meanwhile, lost 2-1 at home to Israel on Friday night and were thus unable to capitalise on their opening match win against Bosnia & Herzegovina.

That surprise victory against Bosnia & Herzegovina was the first time that Cyprus have managed to avoid defeat in 11 away games dating back to a goalless draw with Jordan almost four years ago.

Team News
Wales remain without key players Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen, while James Collins and Emyr Huws join the pair on the injury list. Gareth Bale will once again shoulder the burden of responsibility as he is beginning to do so well for his country.

Head-to-Head
Drawn alongside one another in Euro 2008 qualifying the home side each won their respective fixture by a 3-1 scoreline. Of the goalscorers in those two games, only Cypriot Constantinos Charalampidis is involved this Monday.

Cyrpus won the only other meeting between the two teams, 1-0 back in November 2005.

Recommended Bets
Wales are improving game on game and, despite the deluge of injuries, looked to be a team on the front foot in the game against Bosnia & Herzegovina. There was a large reliance on Gareth Bale on Friday night, but he is now at a stage of his career where he is more than capable of shouldering that expectation. Against a weaker Cypriot side he can be the difference and odds of 4/9 about a home win seem more than fair.

The Real Madrid man was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet on Friday but looks a good bet to break the deadlock this Monday night at odds of 11/5. I also like the look of the 6/5 about there being more than 2.5 goals in the game:

each of the two previous competitive meetings between the nations have produced four goals

…while three of the four games that the two countries have been involved in in this campaign have seen more than two goals.