We’re back with the final international break of 2023 as we continue down the road to UEFA Euro 2024. It’s safe to say that things are really starting to heat up in pretty much every group as nations qualify and make their push to reach the playoffs. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be an intriguing battle between Israel and Switzerland.
Israel Form GuideIsrael have qualified for the World Cup on one occasion, and they’ve never qualified for the European Championships. The interesting part about it is that they often seem to be in the mix in qualifying, but more often than not, they lose a game they should win or they just fall away in the final few games. Moving forward, they need to work on their development if they’re going to get back to where they once were.
As a result of the ongoing conflict with Palestine, Israel did not compete at all in the month of October. They did, however, make their return to action in a visit to take on Kosovo yesterday, and they came up short in a disappointing 1-0 loss.
Switzerland Form GuideFor so many years now, Switzerland have been seen as dark horses in a lot of the international competitions they qualify for. In the end, though, they ultimately just make up the numbers, either falling away in the group stage or failing to do much of significance in the knockouts. Still, there’s a belief within the core of their squad, and that’s all you can really ask for at this point.
The Swiss looked comfortable, composed and effective against Andorra back in September in a solid 3-0 win. However, when they played host to Belarus, they were surprisingly taken to the limit in what wound up being a 3-3 thriller.
Match PredictionIsrael do not appear to have much confidence in their side whatsoever right now and while their priorities may indeed be elsewhere, they need to sharpen up quickly in time for a meeting with a team of this quality. In our view, the most realistic and likely outcome here is a Switzerland win.
