With France likely to finish top of Group D, Belarus and Bosnia will be fighting for the second place in the group, so we can expect a fiery encounter in Minsk. Bosnia are currently behind by two points but they have a game in hand, meaning that whoever wins this match will gain the upper hand in the race for the place at Euro 2012.

Major selection headache for Belarus

The fact is that Belarus currently sit in second place with 12 points from 7 games, which is a very good return by all standards, but I am not really sure they deserve such a high position in the standings. Bernd Stange’s side took advantage of France’s problems at the start of the qualifying campaign to record an invaluable win at Stade de France, even if they had been completely outplayed in that match. The team then showed their real face by sharing spoils with Romania at home and minnows Luxembourg away, with another three points from two games against Albania showing that Belarus were far from their best. They then managed to beat Luxembourg at home and hold France to 1:1 draw, but this game will be a big test for Bernd Stange’s men, especially as the hosts will be missing several very important players.

Aleksandr Yurevich, Vitali Rodionov, Aleksandr Hleb, Yan Tigorev, Anton Amelchenko, Dmitri Molosh and Vitali Kutuzov are all unavailable, so there are no doubts the hosts will be severely weakened.

Bosnia finally playing to their potential

Bosnia have been showing a lot of promise over the last few years and the mere fact they narrowly missed out on a place at 2010 World Cup speaks volumes about team’s quality. Coach Safet Susic has experienced some problems after taking over the reigns from Ciro Blazevic, but it looks as though he is finally getting to grips with his new job, as witnessed by the obvious improvement in team’s performances. The 3:0 defeat in Romania served as a wake-up call for Susic as he finally realized that he cannot afford four attack-minded midfielders in the starting line-up and the change in approach produced excellent results in the win over Albania, as well as in the friendly draw against Greece, where Bosnia produced a magnificent performance despite failing to score a goal. The team will be even stronger this time, as Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic, Hoffenhiem midfielder Sejad Salihovic and Rangers defender Sasa Papac have finally returned to the side, so a good result in Belarus looks on the cards.

Senad Lulic is expected to replace injured Mensur Mujdza at right-back, while red-hot Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko should start as a lone striker.

Verdict

Belarus have been far from impressive of late and with no less than seven first team players missing from the squad, the hosts could face a really tough task against in-form Bosnia. The visitors look to be stronger than ever and they look more than capable of getting something from this match.

Our prediction: Bosnia Draw No Bet

Odds: 2.20 (6/5)

Bookmaker: Paddy Power