Wales v Estonia predictions: Workmanlike Dragons unlikely to blow away visitors

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier between Wales and Estonia in Cardiff.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event, 7.45pm Wednesday

Best bet

Wales to win & under 2.5 goals
1pt 2-1 bet365

Team news

Wales
Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu, Tyler Roberts, Brandon Cooper and Harry Wilson are available after missing the win over Belarus. The game comes too soon for Aaron Ramsey (thigh).

Estonia
Top scorer in qualifying Henri Anier dropped to the bench for the friendly loss to Northern Ireland but is expected to start in Cardiff.

Preview

Wales needed a Bale-out to avoid a damaging result against Belarus but shouldn’t need to dig that deep when Estonia visit Cardiff.

A hat-trick from all-time leading scorer Gareth Bale, including a 93rd-minute winner, saw the Dragons escape with three precious points, taking their tally to six after three games of this qualifying campaign.

They sit third in Group E, one point behind the Czech Republic in second but with two games in hand, making the Estonia clash a must-win encounter if they are to finish runners-up to the class act in the field, Belgium.

A top-two finish was in jeopardy against Belarus before Bale’s heroics and Wales’s defence looked a pale imitation of the backline that has been a bedrock to recent qualification campaigns.

Joe Rodon’s return should significantly strengthen their options though. The Tottenham centre-half was one of 13 players missing from Robert Page’s squad for the trip to Kazan.

Rodon is arguably Wales’s best defender and his presence can limit an Estonia side who have scored more goals than their opponents in this campaign - six to Wales’s five - but have struggled to net consistently on their travels.

The Baltic nation have drawn a blank on ten of their last 15 competitive away games and couldn’t find a way past Northern Ireland in Sunday’s home friendly

That doesn’t bode well for Thomas Haberli’s men, who are pointless after three games and suffered six-goal hammerings against Belgium and the Czechs.

Another heavy loss is unlikely though given Wales’s lack of firepower.

Only Bale has reached double figures for goals in the current squad, while they’ve netted more than once in three of their last ten competitive outings, indicating a more workmanlike victory for Wales.

Key stat

Ten of Wales’s last 15 competitive home games have featured fewer than three goals.

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