Czech Republic vs. Belarus: Preview and betting tips

The Czech Republic will play a World Cup qualifying match against Belarus on Thursday. They must win if they want to keep their hopes for the first qualification place alive. Can it do it?

The Czech Republic has four points after three rounds of qualifying, which is not enough considering the performance. Against Belgium, Šilhavy’s charges were within reach of a win, and the same in their unlucky loss to Wales (0:1).

Belarus has played two qualification matches so far with a record of one win and one loss. First, they blasted Estonia (4::2), then they got an embarrassing eight from Belgium (0::8).

In the absence of Patrik Schick or Lukáš Masopust, our team will probably rely on the talented Adam Hložek and of course the Premier League’s seasoned duo of Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček.

Vitali Lisakovich is the mainstay of the Belarusians, he has scored four national team goals in the recent past and plays for Lokomotiv Moscow. The experienced Maksim Skavysh is also doing well, he has a 2+2 record in his last five games for the national team.

The Czech Republic’s team has struggled offensively in recent games, scoring more than one goal in only one of the last four, and will now be without Schick.

Belarus, on the other hand, has holes in its defense, getting at least two goals in four of the last five games.

Given the rapidly differing quality of the two squads, I think Šilhavy’s charges will win by at least two goals.