The international break is what separates the lions from the sheep when it comes to punting. You’ll get people telling you that it’s a nice break and that they’ve needed the break to recharge their batteries - what the fuck does that even mean?
The reality is, if you’re not balls deep on Liechtenstein U21 taking a pounding at 2pm on a Wednesday, or, cheering on the corner handicap for whoever’s playing San Marino then you’re doing it wrong.

Rep of Ireland vs Latvia, Wednesday 22nd March, 19:45 - Viaplay Sports 1

Bet: Evan Ferguson To Score Anytime @ 2.63 (13/8) SkyBet - Price Boost

Roberto De Zerbi has done a brilliant job of integrating Evan Ferguson into first-team football and the Italian manager has spoken very highly of the ability that Brighton’s young Irish centre forward Evan Ferguson possesses, he’s allowed him to showcase his talent which Ferguson has grabbed with both hands. He’s scored 3 Premier League goals, 3 FA Cup goals and a goal in the Carabao Cup so far this season in limited starting appearances

There’s been a bit of buzz about Ferguson for a year or two now and Rep of Ireland boss, Stephen Kenny has confirmed in his press conference that the striker will be awarded his first start vs Latvia on Wednesday night. The 2.63 (13/8) for Evan Ferguson to score anytime through Sky Bet’s Price Boost vs Latvia where Rep of Ireland find themselves as heavy odds-on favourites seems quite a generous price.

Italy vs England, Thursday 24th March, 19:45 - Channel 4

The Euro 2020 finalists (wonder how that game finished?) meet for the third time since that dreaded night at Wembley. Got kicked out of a pub whilst celebrating Luke Shaw’s goal that day because I wasn’t wearing a wristband you needed for entry, the world did go mad after that China virus didn’t it?

The two UEFA Nations League meetings that followed last June and September saw the following match totals across both games:

• Match shots: 24 & 20

• Match corners: 9 & 4

• Match free-kicks: 28 & 29

• Match tackles: 30 & 21

• Match throw-ins: 29 & 29

• Match goal-kicks: 12 & 16

• Match cards: 3 & 5

It’s only a small, two-game sample size since the heated Euro 2020 final but there is a little bit of needle between the two countries after it. It could be used as a guide if you’re building your bet for the match. Sitting down on a Thursday evening and switching Channel 4 on, we’re only Davina McCall away from Big Brother!

Bet: Giovanni Di Lorenzo To Commit 2 Or More Fouls @ 3.00 (2/1) - Betfair/Paddy Power

That’s the bet!

Giovanni Di Lorenzo has committed 2*, 2 and 3 fouls in the last 3 games between Italy and England. If Jack Grealish is to start on the left wing it makes the price even more appealing given his ability to draw his opponent into multiple fouls per game. Napoli’s right-back commits on average 1.1 fouls per game over his last 216 career appearances - data from WhoScored as shown in the screenshot below. Click on the caption to take you to his WhoScored history page. Click on Detailed > Fouls.

*He did commit 2 fouls in the Euro 2020 final. However, only 1 of the fouls was in the 90 minutes. His second foul came in the 105th minute of extra time.

France vs Netherlands, Friday 24th March, 19:45 - Viaplay Sports 1

Bet: Georginio Wijnaldum To Score Anytime @ 10.00 (9/1) - Betfair/Paddy Power

Ronald Koeman is back in charge of the Netherlands and Gini Wijnaldum has spoken about how happy he is with his return stating he has a ‘better connection’ with Koeman than he did with previous boss Louis van Gaal with whom he fell out of favour and wasn’t selected for a squad last year.

Wijnaldum has 26 international goals in 86 appearances and Koeman got the best out of him in a goalscoring sense in his first spell in charge of the Dutch. Wijnaldum scored 8 goals in 7 appearances in the Netherlands’ last European Championship Qualifying campaign, albeit these are somewhat padded stats as the 13-year-olds running football Twitter accounts like to say, given he scored a hat-trick vs Estonia and a brace vs Belarus. He did score against Germany in qualifying though and against France in the UEFA Nations League in 2018. It remains to be seen whether or not he’s still the same player that he was back then after his recent broken leg but in his 4 Roma Serie A starts since his return from injury he’s had 9 shots, scoring once in the league. If Koeman puts him straight back into the Dutch XI which I’m assuming he will be given his admiration for the player, the 10.00 (9/1) for him to score at any time with Betfair/Paddy Power looks a bet. I’d probably be debating whether or not to back this at around 11/2 or 6/1 so the 9/1 seems a couple of points generous given his goal-scoring record with his national team.

#CheekyPunt

1. Jack Grealish To Be Shown A Card, Giovanni Di Lorenzo To Be Shown a Card & Giovanni Di Lorenzo To Commit 2 Or More Fouls @ 54.27 - Betfair/Paddy Power.
   
   Jack Grealish was booked in both Nations League games against Italy last year. Feel like we could see Italy stopping Grealish in his tracks early doors with a couple of fouls closer to the halfway line (if he starts, of course) and Super Jack loves a bite after he’s been put on the floor. Picture it, Di Lorenzo commits his second foul going through the back of Grealish, Grealish gets up off the floor and pushes the Italian over and then the we’re never gonna do anything other than push each other handbags ensue; Serbian referee Srdjan Jovanovic awards a yellow card to the pair of them and everybody’s happy!