Wales v Armenia: Dragons look to build on solid start

Beating Armenia and getting some reward against Turkey in Samsun on Monday would represent a huge step for Welsh ambitions of clinching a top-two spot and reaching the finals in Germany next summer.

The first task should not be too difficult with Wales 2/5 favourites for victory while they are 15/8 to drop points.

Johnson boost

Wales’ March games were overshadowed by the absence of Brennan Johnson. Boss Rob Page suggested Johnson’s club Nottingham Forest had not done enough to get the forward fit for international duty, a claim which Reds boss Steve Cooper subsequently denied.

Whatever the truth of that, Johnson had an impressive maiden top-flight campaign at the City Ground and his return to the Wales squad is a huge boost.

Johnson is 7/4 to score in a Wales win and 4/1 to break the deadlock.

Managing post-season break

It will be nearly three weeks since the Premier League finished when Wales walk out to take on Armenia. The regular EFL season ended even earlier on May 8 and several members of Page’s squad have not played since.

Page organised a Cardiff camp for his non top-flight players last month before taking the entire squad to Portugal to prepare for Armenia and Turkey, but it remains to be seen how match-fit they are heading into the two qualifiers.

Wales are 16/1 to be leading at half-time and fail to win while 23/10 is on offer for the first half to have the most goals.

Painful memories

Armenia and Wales have only met twice, in 2002 World Cup qualifying.

Both games were drawn, with John Hartson scoring twice in a 2-2 draw at Yerevan’s Republican Stadium in March 2001 after Armenia had been reduced to 10 men.

The return game the following September was Wales’ 500th match. But Wales failed to mark the occasion with a win as their World Cup qualification hopes disappeared with a goalless draw at the Millennium Stadium.

Another draw on Friday is 17/5 in the Wales v Armenia betting odds while a goalless stalemate is 11/1.

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All odds and markets correct as of date of publication