Wales VS Moldova Match Prediction

The only two previous meetings between Wales and Moldova both came in qualifying for the 1996 UEFA European Championship, with each side winning their home match.

Moldova took the points on home soil by pulling off a 3-2 win - one of the biggest results in the footballing history of this small nation - but Wales also won at home, edging a 1-0 victory.

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Wales v Moldova: Prediction

Wales reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 mostly down to the brilliance of Gareth Bale, who scored in all three group games at the tournament to ensure his side's progression. Bale is particularly dangerous from set pieces, whether he is taking free-kicks or heading in penalties and Moldova will rarely have faced a player of his class. Bale alone should be good enough to see Wales through to a fairly comfortable home win.

Wales v Moldova: Betting Tips

Wales have unsurprisingly been made strong favourites for this game and there is little value in a price of 2/7 on the hosts to beat Moldova, who can be backed at a massive 16/1 to win here. The draw has been made available at around the 9/2 mark but there are many other markets other than the match odds one that can be explored.

The hosts are a tempting 4/6 to win to nil, while Bale is lined up at a juicy 4/5 to score any time. The 10/11 on Wales to win with Bale on the scoresheet also stands out as good value considering his importance to the side, while the 17/20 on Wales -1 on the handicap stands out too.

Chris Coleman is not likely to make radical changes from the team that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016, with Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale still the star name in the side. Hal Robson-Kanu could drop out after only recently signing a deal with West Brom, with Burnley striker Sam Vokes the most likely to come in alongside Bale in attack. Joe Allen and Ashley Williams add to a strong spine in this team, with Coleman hoping left-back Neil Taylor is fit.

Wales likely XI:

With just one win since 2014, Moldova are not holding out a lot of hope of having a successful qualifying campaign and it would be a seismic shock if they were to reach the 2018 World Cup, which is controversially set to be held in Russia. Coach Igor Dobrovolskiy is likely to pick an extremely defensive line-up here in the hope that Wales are unable to break Moldova down.

Moldova likely XI:

It would be a huge shock were Wales to not win this game and they should have more than enough quality to take the points. But the longer Moldova can hold out, the more nervous Wales will get and they have not always thrived when strong favourites against the supposed lesser nations during qualifying campaigns. But Bale\'s class should see Wales record a pretty straightforward home win.

Wales\' star man Gareth Bale scored in three games in a row at Euro 2016 this year.