Sticky please.
Okay, here's some rundown for each group thus far:
GROUP A
Germany has been an utter juggernaut thus far, which was pretty much expected in this group. What I didn't expect was for Austria to actually come to play, even though the best team they've played has been Belgium. I'm not holding out any hope for them actually making the tournament, with Turkey still having not yet played them, which will happen next March.
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have lived up to expectations, or lack thereof. A surprising exception, though, was a 1-0 victory over Turkey in spite of being outshot and outplayed.
GROUP B
This group is really close right now. The main surprise has been Armenia, who has played surprisingly well, keeping Ireland close (losing 1-0) and beating Slovakia 3-1. Russia are top by two over Ireland, Slovakia, and Armenia, having lost to Slovakia and beaten Macedonia, Ireland (albeit barely, 3-2), and Andorra, who has been true to usual form, losing every match thus far
GROUP C
As much as I don't like Italy's team, I'm glad they were awarded the victory against Serbia. Seriously, people talk about England having the worst hooligans in the world? Pff. Try the Former Yugoslavia, especially Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro. If it isn't racism, it's stuff like the crap they pulled against Italy.
Between Italy and the last-place Faeroes, things tighten up. Although the Serbs were given a loss in controversial fashion, they are still just a win behind 2nd-place Slovenia. 3rd-place Estonia has been surprising - I mean come on, who would expect the normally defensive Estonians to beat Serbia, a far superior offensive team on paper, 3-1? Northern Ireland could easily have been second by now if not for a surprise draw from the Faeroes. I'm telling you, Jákup Mikkelssen still has something left in the tank! They should go with him instead of Gunnar Nielsen.
GROUP D
1st-place France and last-place Luxembourg aside, this group has me thinking I'm looking at it upside down. Bosnia and Herzegovina, who made it to the playoff stage of WC quals, is fourth in the group, and Romania is second from bottom with a measly 2 points. On the other hand, Belarus are second by a point, having beaten France. That said, they drew Luxembourg, which is kinda sad. Albania's doing quite well, having only lost to Romania. This group could be closer than first expected if it keeps up like this!
GROUP E
Netherlands has been unstoppable. No surprise there. Hungary is second from top. Sweden's looking okay, having only lost to the aforemention Dutchies. So is all as expected? Not quite. Finland, who finished third in their WC qualifying group, have looked piss-poor thus far. They will get a free three against perennial basement-dwellers San Marino on 17 November, but after that they had better smarten up or I'm going to start calling for their manager's head on a platter!
GROUP F
Closest group of the lot. Four points separate first (Greece) from fifth (Latvia), and the top three sides (Greece, Croatia, and surprisingly, Georgia) all have yet to lose. I don't expect that to change on 17 November, when Croatia takes on sad-sack Malta. Things will get interesting come March, though, when Croatia plays Georgia...
GROUP G
If I told you that Montenegro would be top of the group at the start, I'd get laughed at and called names like you wouldn't believe. But as things sit now, the Montenegrins, having played one more game than anyone else, sit top. England will have a chance to even things up come March against the Welsh, as both the Swiss and the Bulgarians have been nothing short of a disappointment. I'm kinda chuffed that the Swiss are playing crap right now, because their style of football is boring.
Two-horse race at the moment, which was anything but expected, especially the fact that horse #2 was Montenegro
GROUP H
I don't think I've seen Norway play this well in over fifteen years! The high-flying Scandinavians have had an injection of youth into the system, and it has them ahead of the Portugimps in spite of having played one less match. Portugal is looming just two back, but Denmark could push them to third in March with a win over the same Norwegians, considering the Portuguese Diving Squad doesn't play in that set of matches.
Cyprus and Iceland have been expectedly pathetic, but the Cypriots did get a point against Portugal.
GROUP I
Spain is looking the juggernaut at the moment, even though Scotland did give them a scare. The Czechs are second at the moment but play Spain in March, and if they can't beat Lithuania while playing at home, there's no way they're going to beat Spain, who bulldozed those same Lithuanians 3-1,
on their turf. Scotland and Lithuania are joint third, and both have their bragging rights. I suppose only time will tell which of these will do better. Liechtenstein has been crap, as expected.
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