Date: October 13, 2014
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, United Kingdom
Kick-off time: 19:45 BST
Group B leaders, Wales will welcome Cyprus at their home ground in a very unpredictable group match. Wales have already won a match and drew their last one against Bosnia-Herzegovina, while Cyprus could not get a miracle result against Israel.
Wales are depleted in midfield and Cyprus will be looking to take advantage of that.
Wales form: D-W-L-W-D
Against Bosnia, Wales were able to keep the Bosnian midfield quiet for large parts and were able to create some chances for themselves. A lucky escape for penalty around half time aside, Wales could comfortably repel the Bosnian advances.
Even without good players like Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen, the team performed admirably well and Coach Chris Coleman will be happy with what he has seen so far.
Cyprus form: D-L-L-W-L
Cyprus could not continue their ‘giant killing’ form against Israel and succumbed to a 2-1 defeat. After defeating Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Cyprus team were underwhelming. Israel was all over Cyprus and was ahead with two goals in the first half.
Cyprus did not have any momentum and a hard working Israeli side left exposed their functional deficiencies in midfield. They did fight back with a goal in the second half, but apart from that Cyprus could not do anything more. Against Wales, it will be interesting to see how they play.
Key Players
Wales: Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale’s performance against Bosnia was not a great one, but some chances he created were out of nowhere and that is why he is dangerous on such occasions. His dribbling and speed on one side, he has added another dimension to his game after joining Real Madrid. Cyprus needs to be wary of him
Cyprus: Antonis Georgallides
The current custodian of the Cyprus team if selected against Wales will have a huge part and has to rally his defence against the likes of Gareth Bale.
Betting Advice
Wales (1.45 with BetVictor) will win this by a comfortable margin, while Gareth Bale (1.72 with bet365 to be anytime scorer) can be expected to drill in at least one.