Wales vs Kazakhstan predictions: Dragons capable of delivering big win
&w=707&quality=100)
- Wales beat Iceland 4-1 in their last home game
- Kazakhstan have lost their last three away games 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0
- Recommended bet: Back Wales, 0-2 in 3-Way Handicap
Wales’ bid to qualify for back-to-back World Cups begins with a visit from Group J minnows Kazakhstan on Saturday.
The Dragons will be eager to get their campaign off to a good start after going unbeaten in six games under Craig Bellamy.
He led them to promotion to the Nations League's top division by winning their League B group, which also effectively guaranteed them at least a play-off for World Cup qualification.
Kazakhstan dismissed Stanislav Cherchesov after being relegated to League C with only one point to show from their six matches.
Interim head coach Ali Aliyev oversaw a 2-0 friendly win over Curacao last week in a match that was arranged to restore some confidence in the camp.
Team news
&w=707&quality=100)
Wales will be without influential trio Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Ethan Ampadu (knee) and Harry Wilson (foot) due to injury.
Ipswich winger Wes Burns and Sheffield United left-back Rhys Norrington-Davies are also unavailable, but Swansea City midfielder Ollie Cooper is back in the squad after injury.
As for Kazakhstan, central defender Alibek Kasym, midfielder Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov, left-back Roman Asrankulov and forward Ramazan Karimov are all out because of injuries.
Midfielder Georgy Zhukov underwent a fitness test after picking up a knock playing for his club side and it will be touch and go whether he can start at the Cardiff City Stadium.
The stats
Wales have lost only two of their last 22 World Cup qualifying matches (W11 D9), with no defeats in the last nine (W6 D3).
The Dragons are unbeaten in their last six World Cup qualifying matches at home (W4 D2).
Kazakhstan have not won a match in either of their last two World Cup qualifying attempts, drawing three and losing seven of their 10 games ahead of Russia 2018 and drawing three and losing five ahead of Qatar 2022.
Wales qualified for their first World Cup in 64 years in 2022 but exited at the group stage in Qatar.
Prediction
Wales and Kazakhstan are currently at opposite ends of the confidence spectrum and that usually plays a major role in top-level sport.
Bellamy has rebuilt the Dragons squad in a short space of time to get them playing a brand of high-tempo football to excite the fans and bring positive results.
They should be able to utilise the advantages they have in pace and physicality to break down the visitors, who will be coming to Cardiff to keep the score down.
But Kazakhstan were unable to stop the rot in the last Nations League campaign, especially on the road, where they suffered heavy defeats at Slovenia, Austria and Norway.
Wales are currently ranked higher than two of those three nations and should be targeting a victory by three goals or more in this fixture.
Their 4-1 win over Iceland last time out should provide the blueprint for another convincing display.
Win up to £250,000 with LiveScore 6!
Win up to £250,000 with our free-to-play game, LiveScore 6!
