Euro 2020 Matchday 3 Previews and Betting Tips
Euro 2020 Matchday 3 Previews and Tips
What happened in Copenhagen on Saturday puts everything into perspective. Watching the horrific events unfold on TV was almost surreal and it was hugely relieving to hear that Christian Eriksen had pulled through. Hopefully he makes a swift and full recovery. Unfortunately, our Matchday 2 bets were a disaster. Wales never really looked like winning and were lucky to get the draw. Glen Camara was fortunate to avoid a booking in the first minute but he stayed disciplined afterwards. Russia gifted Belgium two goals and that sealed their fate. Let’s hope, Euro 2020 Matchday 3 goes better for us, tips and previews are below.
England v Croatia
Match Odds: England 8/13; Draw 14/5; Croatia 5/1.
Venue: Wembley Stadium, England.
Kick Off Time: 2.00 pm.
What a match to start a Super Sunday of football action. Wembley is the venue for a rerun of the 2018 World Cup semi-final between England and Croatia. The Croats emerged victorious that night but since then their form has dipped. Gareth Southgate’s England have unearthed some excellent young players but there is a sense that they almost have too many to choose from. It is tough to predict what formation England will play with, let alone what their starting eleven might be. That is hardly ideal coming into a major tournament.
England have weaknesses at the back that Croatia will look to exploit. Jordan Pickford is error prone and too often he makes rash decisions. Maguire is unlikely to be fit and he is a huge loss at centre back. Rumours abound that Southgate is going to start with three centre backs, Walker and Shaw either side of Stones, with Chilwell and James or Trippier on the flanks.
In midfield, Rice looks certain to start in the holding role and Kane is an automatic pick up top. Grealish, Mount, Foden, Rashford, Sterling and Sancho will fight it out for the remaining three positions. If, and it’s a big if, Southgate finds the right combination England have enough attacking talent to trouble any side at this tournament.
Dark Horses
I have already tipped up Croatia to win this Group in my pre-tournament preview. They’ll need to get off to a good start if they are to achieve that and they will relish the challenge of taking on England at Wembley. Croatia were only pegged back late on when they lost 2-1 at Wembley in the Nations League and many of their squad will have fond memories of watching their 3-2 win there as youngsters back in 2007.
Livakovic has emerged as a reliable ‘keeper and Croatia can call on the likes of Lovren, Vida, Caleta-Car and Vrsaljko at the back. Luka Modric remains one of the best midfielders in Europe and Everton reject Nikola Vlasic has developed into a real threat. Perisic and Rebic will look to hurt England from out wide and this Croatian side cannot be overlooked.
One player who will be desperate to make an impact back on English soil is Nikola Vlasic. He was voted player of the year in Russia in 2020 where he scored 11 goals for CSKA Moscow. Vlasic has scored 5 times in 23 appearances for Croatia and he looked lively in their 1-0 friendly defeat to Belgium last week. At odds of 11/2, back him to score at any time vs England.
Euro 2020 Matchday 3 Tip: Nikola Vlasic to score anytime @ 11/2
Euro 2020 Matchday 3: Austria v North Macedonia
Match Odds: Austria 3/4; Draw 5/2; North Macedonia 9/2.
Venue: Bucharest, Romania.
Kick Off Time: 5.00 pm.
It isn’t all glitz and glamour at Euro 2020! The second match of the day on Sunday sees debutants North Macedonia take on Austria in Bucharest. Austria are the clear favourites for this tie but they come into the game in poor from. North Macedonia, on the other hand, will be on a high after winning two of their first three World Cup Qualifiers, including a famous 2-1 win away to Germany.
The Austrians have only ever qualified for the Euros twice and they failed to make it past the group stage on either occasion. The draw has been kind to them this time though and they will fancy their chances of edging out Ukraine and the North Macedonians. In order to do that they’ll need to win this and they will rely heavily on their star duo Alaba and Arnautovic.
The North Macedonians will be hoping to make an impact at their first ever major championship. Goran Pandev is their talisman up top and he is still dangerous despite his advancing years. Leeds fans will be familiar with Alioski and Mallorca forward Trajkovski is another one to watch. To be honest, I haven’t seen enough of these two teams to have a strong opinion on the match. So, I am going to sit on the fence and leave it alone. No bet.
Euro 2020 Matchday 3 Tip: No Bet
Netherlands v Ukraine
Match Odds: Netherlands 8/11; Draw 11/4; Ukraine 9/2.
Venue: Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Kick Off Time: 8.00 pm.
The Netherlands are in decent shape coming into Euro 2020. They finished just 2 points behind Germany in their qualifying group and they have scored at least two goals in each of their last seven games. They did suffer a shock 4-2 defeat to Turkey in their opening World Cup Qualifier in March but they bounced back with successive victories vs Latvia and Gibraltar, scoring nine goals in the process.
The Netherlands have a strong squad. In defence they have a nice mix of youth and experience with De Ligt, Ake and Blind. Frenkie de Jong and Wijnaldum will keep things ticking over in the engine room and young Ajax star Ryan Gravenberch could also make an impact. Their main man up top is our top goalscorer tip Memphis Depay. A lot of pressure is resting on his shoulders and the Lyon man will be hoping he can deliver the goods.
Tricky Opponents
The Netherlands are hot favourites for this match and rightly so. However, Ukraine are a solid outfit and they have some decent players in their squad. Oleksandr Zinchenko has blossomed for Man City this season and they also have Atalanta’s Malinovskiy. Their talisman is the mercurial West Ham forward Andriy Yarmolenko and they will be praying he can stay fit for the entire tournament.
I’ll be surprised if Netherlands aren’t good enough to win this. Yes, they are prone to occasional lapses in concentration and they don’t keep many clean sheets. However, they should have sufficient firepower to get their campaign off to a positive start. The Ukrainians might cause them a problem or two though so back the Netherlands to win and both teams to score at odds of 3/1.
