Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Estonia: Match Preview and Prediction

Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Estonia
European Qualifiers – 2018 World Cup
Date: Tuesday; 6-September-2016
Kick-off: 19:45 UK
Venue: Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica.

Bosnia and Herzegovina look for consecutive World Cup appearances when they start their qualifying camping for Russia 2018 with a home game against Estonia.

The Dragons’ only appearance at a major tournament so far was at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. They failed to progress beyond the group stages as they suffered defeats to Argentina and Nigeria before earning a consolation win against Iran. For the 2016 European Championships, they failed to qualify after bowing out to Republic of Ireland in the play-off.

Estonia are yet to make their mark in any of the major international tournaments. Their best ever run was during the Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs. They finished second in their qualifying group and earned the play-off draw against Republic of Ireland, which they lost 5-1 on aggregate. Estonia were fourth in their group during the Euro 2016 qualifying phase from a group that includes England, Switzerland, Slovenia, Lithuania and San Marino.

Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Estonia: Head-to-Head

In the five matches between them, Bosnia-Herzegovina have won 3 matches, while 1 was won by Estonia with a match ending in stalemate.

Estonia have never defeated Bosnia in a competitive fixture as the record from four match reads a draw and 3 defeats.

The latest meeting between the two sides was during the 2010 World Cup qualifier, in which Bosnia won both legs; 7-0 at home and 2-0 at Estonia.

Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Estonia: Prediction

Bosnia-Herzegovina are a better quality side than the Estonians with the likes of Miralem Pjanic, Edin Dzeko and Asmir Begovic expected to play a key role here. They are also unbeaten in the last five qualifying matches at home, which includes a 2-0 win against Wales and 1-1 draw against Belgium. While Estonia have a poor away record in qualifiers and are on a three match losing streak and six match win-less run.

Bosnia can be confidently backed for a win here and my recommended bet is the home side to score over 1.5 goals.