Following the impressive performance and the 2:2 draw with England at Wembley, Switzerland can return to the race for the play-off berth with a win over struggling Bulgaria. Lothar Matthaus’ side are in bog problems after the 3:0 home defeat to England, and they have lost all chances to make it to the final tournament.

Switzerland showing a lot of promise

Switzerland were always going to improve when legendary coach Otmar Hitzfeld agreed to take over the reigns and he definitely did not disappoint. The Swiss easily qualified for the 2010 World Cup and showed a lot of promise in South Africa, becoming the only team to beat champions Spain, although the team have experienced some difficulties at the beginning of Euro 2012 qualifiers. Otmar Hitzfeld decided to rejuvenate the squad after the World Cup and that was probably the reason for starting defeats to England and Montenegro, but the team quickly returned to the right track. The 4:1 win over Wales and a goalless draw in Bulgaria saw Switzerland return to contention for the top two places in the group, whereas the 2:2 draw at Wembley showed that the team have enough quality to fight with the best sides in Europe. The Swiss are now brimming with confidence, especially after several national team players helped the Under-21 side reach the European Championship final, and that should produce a good result against out-of-form Bulgaria.

Tranquillo Barnetta and Xavier Margairaz are out through injuries, whereas Valon Behrami is suspended. However, David Degen, Marco Padalino and Nassim Ben Khalifa all return. You can check full Switzerland squad here.

Nobody wants to play for Matthaus

Having largely struggled over the last decade, Bulgaria were expected to show some improvement under new boss Lothar Matthaus, but it looks as though things have gone from bad to worse under German legend. The 4:0 defeat at Wembley and 1:0 defeat at home to Montenegro hinted that Bulgaria will struggle to stay in contention for a place at the final tournament, and the latest 3:0 defeat to England at home have seen the team lose all chances to win one of the top two places in Group G. The atmosphere surrounding the team is at an all time low, with PSV’s Stanislav Manolev leaving the team following the defeat to England, saying that he would never play for Lothar Matthaus again. The German coach also decided to drop Spas Delev and Alexander Tunchev from the squad, with the players who stayed in the team desperate for the Switzerland game to end so that they can return to the comfort of their clubs.

Stiliyan Petrov and Martin Petrov are the only players capable of making a difference in Bulgaria squad, but it is highly unlikely that they can do much on their own. Since Dimitar Berbatov retired from international football, the team are desperately short of quality in attack.

Verdict

Switzerland have been playing really well of late and seeing they still have a good chance of catching second-placed Montenegro, Otmar Hitzfeld’s men will be very motivated to record a win here. Bulgaria are all over the place at the moment and the players have already started leaving the sinking ship, while the ones that stayed will have big problems finding the motivation to play for the man who treats their teammates like crap. Clear home win for me.

Our prediction: Switzerland with -1 Asian handicap

Odds: 1.96 (24/25)

Bookmaker: 188BET

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