Euro 2020 Matchday 5 Previews and Betting Tips
Euro 2020 Matchday 5 Previews and Tips
The Schick hit the fan for us and Scotland on Matchday 4. Scotland played well but their lack of a striker told. Schick scored two lovely goals and the Czechs fully deserved the win. Poland didn’t show up and Slovakia took full advantage. Lewandowski was dreadful and Poland could be heading for an early exit. When I saw Morata was starting for Spain I knew our -2 bet was doomed. In the end, Sweden did well to hang on for a 0-0 draw. We march back into battle on Euro 2020 Matchday 5 battered and bruised but still just about standing. Let’s hope for a profitable evening.
Hungary v Portugal
Match Odds: Hungary 15/2; Draw 7/2; Portugal 4/9.
Venue: Budapest, Hungary.
Kick Off Time: 5.00 pm.
Portugal were dealt a major blow with Joao Cancelo testing positive for Covid at the weekend. Diogo Dalot replaces him in the squad and the rest of the players have so far tested negative. Hungary are without their generational talent Szoboszlai who will miss the tournament with a groin injury. The Hungarians qualified via the playoffs, beating Iceland 2-1 to secure their spot. The Portuguese finished 2nd behind Ukraine in their group and qualified automatically. Hungary have home advantage and it will be a full house in Budapest. The weather will be pretty warm at around 26 degrees.
Hungary come into the tournament on an eleven match unbeaten run (W7 D4). The Magyars are appearing in their second successive Euros. They reached the last 16 in 2016, losing 4-0 to Belgium. They have lost two experienced players since that tournament, ‘keeper Kiraly and Zoltan Gera. However, the likes of Adam Szalai and Adam Nagy were involved in 2016 and their experience will be invaluable. They can’t be written off in front of what will be a passionate home crowd.
Ronaldo A Divisive Figure?
Portugal, the reigning Champs, will be led by the ageing Cristiano Ronaldo. Yes, he remains a lethal finisher but his pace is not what it was and his insistence on taking every set piece doesn’t go down well with Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese have an embarrassment of riches in attack. Ronaldo, Felix, Jota, Bruno and Bernardo Silva are all top quality operators and Joao Moutinho will orchestrate proceedings in midfield.
While Portugal have produced lots of attacking talent in recent years, they haven’t had many defenders coming through. Pepe (38) and Fonte (37) are still in the squad and one of those two will most likely partner Ruben Dias. This squad has arguably more depth than the one that won in 2016, but their key players are getting on a bit. If Hungary can nick an early goal it will be interesting to see how Portugal react. I’m not sure that the Portugal squad will all be pulling in the same direction so it might be worth taking them on. At odds of 9/5, back Hungary +1 in the handicap market.
Euro 2020 Matchday 5 Tip: Hungary +1 @ 9/5
France v Germany
Match Odds: France 17/10; Draw 9/4; Germany 9/5.
Venue: Munich, Germany.
Kick Off Time: 8.00 pm.
On paper, this is the match of the tournament so far. It’ll need to be exciting to match Netherlands v Ukraine but in terms of talent, these teams are in a different stratosphere. Germany will hope that home advantage counts in front of 14,000 fans while France will be looking to make an early statement to their rivals. The bookies are finding it hard to split them. Germany are slight underdogs at 19/10, France are 17/10 and the draw is chalked up at 9/4.
Joachim Lowe is leaving his post at the end of this tournament. It feels like the end of an era for Germany and the current crop would love to help their coach go out on a high. Some familiar names will probably be playing at their final Euro Championships this summer. Neuer (35), Hummels (32), Kroos (31), Gundogan (30) and Muller (31) are all likely to play central roles for Germany.
Lowe will be looking to the younger legs of Kimmich, Gnabry, Sane and Havertz to bring pace and energy to the party. While this may not be the Germany of old, they still have a strong squad. As we all know well by now, you can never, ever write off the Germans at major tournaments.
France The Outright Favs
The French squad is even stronger. Pavard, Varane, Digne, Pogba, Kante, Griezmann and Mbappe are all involved and I haven’t even mentioned the elder statesmen, Benzema and Giroud. In terms of depth, France have arguably the best squad at Euro 2020 and they are my outright pick to win it.
Didier Deschamps gets the best out of this group and he is even able to motivate Pogba to sprint and put a shift in. However, it wasn’t a great sign to see Mbappe speaking out about comments made by Giroud in the press over the weekend. You need to be fully together as a squad to have a chance of winning a major tournament and if that isn’t the case, I would worry for France.
Can Les Bleus get off to a winning start? Before the news broke about Giroud and Mbappe I strongly fancied them to win this. Now I am not so sure. Germany are past masters of producing the goods when it matters, even when expectations are low. They might be able to capitalise on the lack of unity in the French camp so I am backing Germany to win at odds of 19/10 on the Betfair Exchange.
