With the important business of the promotion chase taking a two week break I thought I’d take a look at the prospects of the home nations in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.  I was going to focus on Blues players representing their country but there’s only really the Northern Irish boys and Seb Larsson these days.   Sweden do have a massive game coming up against Portugal which you would normally think would be a group decider but it’s actually between the sides in 4th and 5th.  The loser will have a lot of catching up to do to qualify.  Good luck Seb but most importantly, don’t get injured.

England

England only have one qualifier this week but do play Slovakia in a friendly on Saturday evening.  As one squad is selected for both games this should mean that Capello will play his expected starting eleven for the Ukraine game to give them an opportunity to play together.  It would be good to watch an England friendly without all the injury withdrawals, mass substitutions and pointless experimentation that usually makes them not worth watching.  I expect Gerrard to be given the role of the second striker with Lampard dropping deeper.  Could the old Gerrard/Lampard question be finally put to rest?

The Ukraine game is of course more important and I believe that a win will see us put one foot in the finals.  England have made their best start to a qualifying tournament that I can remember and should qualify comfortably but they will have to be careful against a useful Ukraine side.  The days of the great pairing of Shevchenko and Rebrov terrorising opposing defenders may have gone but they should not be taken lightly.  My prediction England to win 2-1.

Tickets are still available for both games but I’ve just tried to get one through the FA site and after registering it wouldn’t recognise my details so I gave up.  Maybe that’s why there are still plenty available.

Scotland

Scotland, deprived of Faddy, are in 2nd place in their group but have to travel to Holland on Saturday to play the group leaders.  Their bigger game though will be on Wednesday when the face Iceland at home.  Second and a place in the playoffs will be their target and victory over the 3rd place team will be a big step towards that goal.  I predict that they will lose 3-0 to Holland but secure a 1-0 victory over the Icelandics.

Wales

Wales have a decent young team but with them being in the same group as Germany and Russia their chances of qualification are slim.  They have two home games coming up but will fancy their chances more in the first game against Finland (I wonder if Forssell will play) than against Germany.  They have beaten Germany in Cardiff before, an Ian Rush goal gave them a 1-0 victory on the way to them just missing out on qualification for the 1994 tournament.  My predictions Wales 1-1 Finland, Wales 0-1 Germany.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland are in a good position in a very even group, only two points cover five teams.  This week they have two home games against the sides just around them, Poland and Slovenia.  It’s crunch time for Nigel Worthington’s men.  Good results this week could lead to their first World Cup since 1986.  They will of course have two Blues players to help them.  Maik Taylor is first choice in goal but Damien Johnson may miss out due to his lack of match practice.  I’d love them to get two wins but I have a feeling they’ll slip up in one of the games, probably against Poland.

Republic of Ireland

The Republic are stuck in a two horse race with Italy for the group eight title.  This week they have to travel to Italy but first up they have a home game against Bulgaria.  Bulgaria are 3rd in the group but are yet to win a game and will be missing Dimitar Berbatov for this one.  This should be three points but they will probably struggle in Rome.  I would expect them to finish 2nd but having missed out in the playoffs a few times in the past they would love to top the group this time.  On loan Stoke defender Stephen Kelly is the only Blues player involved along with half of Reading’s team.  Let’s hope they have a couple of tiring games.  My predictions Ireland 2 -1 Bulgaria, Italy 1-0 Ireland.

Good luck to all the home nations in their upcoming games.