Wales vs Kazakhstan betting tips and predictions

IMAGO Dan James is tipped to be at the fulcrum of the Wales attack against Kazakhstan — *IMAGO* Dan James is tipped to be at the fulcrum of the Wales attack against Kazakhstan

Wales state of play

After the heartbreak of losing a penalty shoot-out on home soil to Poland and missing out on Euro 2024 a year ago, Wales are looking to bounce back and make it to World Cup 2026.

With new boss Craig Bellamy getting his regime off to a brilliant start with Nations League promotion in the autumn, the former Newcastle and Liverpool hot-head will be optimistic about leading his nation to a fourth major tournament since 2016.

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The Nations League campaign saw Wales top the group unbeaten with three wins and three draws against Turkey, Montenegro and Iceland.

Bellamy’s intense style of play felt fresh and this fixture should allow them to start with a bang on the road to North America. Which has been a big topic in our Top of the Props; prop betting tips this week.

The other teams in the group are North Macedonia, Liechtenstein and Belgium. Given that Wales have a decent record against the Belgians, with just two defeats in eight meetings since 2013, aiming for top spot and automatic qualification is not unrealistic.

Kazakhstan state of play

Kazakhstan have never faced Wales before, although they’ve only been playing as part of UEFA since 2002. They come into this game off the back of a horrible run of form in 2024.

The Hawks actually went 11 games without a win until a much-needed 2-0 victory in a friendly against minnows Curacao in Turkey on Wednesday.

Ali Aliyev took over as interim manager in January, and the team he inherited had been freshly relegated to Nations League C after failing to score in six games against Norway, Austria and Slovenia in the autumn.

They aren’t completely hopeless though and had actually made it to the Euro 2024 play-offs by picking up 18 points from 10 qualifiers including wins against Denmark, Northern Ireland and Finland.

However, they lost 5-0 to Greece in the play-off semi-finals, setting off their wretched run.

Key talking point: Will Brennan Johnson and Daniel James run riot in Cardiff?

Based on their recent form, this should really be a solid victory for Bellamy’s men. In Dan James, the Championship’s player of the month, and Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson, they possess fast, direct forwards who could cause some serious damage.

Bournemouth’s David Brooks and Rennes’ Jordan James also offer a level of quality that the opposition are unlikely to be able to match.

Kazakhstan have been shaky at the back of late, conceding a goal in the first 30 minutes in four of their last five competitive games.

With no victories in their last 21 World Cup qualifiers dating back to 2013, and a 2-0 friendly defeat to North Korea last month, it’s really hard to see Aliyev’s side picking up anything against a home team who seem rejuvenated under Bellamy.

FIRST’s top tip for Wales vs Kazakhstan

With Wales only losing one of their last 16 internationals and keeping three clean sheets in their last four games, they’re the clear favourites here.

Kazakhstan failed to score in their Nations League campaign so we’re going for Wales to win with a -2 handicap at 8/5 with Betway.

Extra tips

There could be value in backing Daniel James (19 goal involvements in 32 Championship appearances) to score or assist here at 7/5 with BetMGM.

Brennan Johnson for first goalscorer at 17/4 with Betway is worth a shot given he has nine Premier League goals against higher quality defences this season.

And with the poor goals record of Kazakhstan, we also like Wales to win to nil at 8/11 with 10Bet .

Team news

Wales are without Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Ethan Ampadu (knee) and Harry Wilson (foot) but Swansea’s Ollie Cooper is back from a stress fracture and Tom Lawrence is in contention for a first cap since March 2021.

18-year-old Kai Andrews, on loan at Motherwell from Coventry, has earned a first call-up.

The Kazakhstan squad features 16-year-old sensation Dastan Satpaev who is now on Chelsea’s books. Besiktas midfielder Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov is out injured.