Europe EURO 2020 - Round of 16, June 26-29

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It will be great season. I hope we will watch good games and fair play!

 

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Wales vs Denmark Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Wales:
Ward; Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, Davies; James, Ramsey, Allen, Morrell, Bale; Moore

Denmark:
Schmeichel; Christensen, Kjaer, Vestergaard; Wass, Hojbjerg, Delaney, Maehle; Braithwaite, Damsgaard; Poulsen

Wales and Denmark will face at Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam in the first match of round of 16. Wales somehow became EURO specialists. This is the second consecutive European Championship they secured the knock-out stages. The Dragons went all the way to the semi-finals at the previous tournament. Many experts were anticipating an early elimination here as their key players Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey were not regulars in Tottenham and Juventus. The change of coach Ryan Giggs was another upset. He was sacked in April after being charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend. The 47-year-old faces an additional charge of coercive and controlling behavior. Robert Page was appointed as new manager and his inexperience (worked only at Port Vale and Northampton Town) looked like a big problem. However, Wales started with an 1:1 draw with Switzerland. Kieffer Moore was the scorer on that match. The crucial victory was obtained in the second round when they beat Turkey. Aaron Ramsey scored the opening goal, while Connor Roberts found the back of the net in the stoppage time to secure a 2:0 win. The narrow defeat to Italy in the third round saw Wales finishing second in Group A. The match could be rated as disappointment, not only because they were comfortably beaten, but also because Ethan Ampadu, who had been having a good tournament up to that point, was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Federico Bernardeschi. Ampadu is sidelined through a suspension and that's a handicap for Page.

Denmark started the European Championship in the worst possible way. They lost 1:0 to Finland, but the match will be remembered for something else - Christian Eriksen's collapse in 43rd minute of the match. The next 10 minutes were among the scariest to ever unfold during a match at football’s European Championship. Several medics worked frenetically to give Eriksen chest compressions while his teammates choked away tears and formed a circle around the midfielder to shield the scene from public view. The game was suspended for about 90 minutes before both teams made the decision to play on. Finland took advantage in the second half, while Hojbjerg had a chance to equalize, but missed a penalty. It was clear the Danes were upset, but the defeat additionally complicated the situation. The fans lost the faith when Denmark suffered another defeat in the second round. This time they lost 2:1 to Belgium. But Denmark smashed Russia in the last round, winning 4:1 and finally showing their true potential. Knowing they needed to win and hoping Belgium beat Finland, the Danes entered the match fully motivated. Mikkel Damsgaard scored the first-half opener, while Yussuf Poulsen doubled the lead in the 59th minute. Artem Dzyuba got one back for Russia from the penalty spot, but Christensen and Joakim Maehle made it 4:1 in the finish of the match. That result, along with Finland’s 2:0 defeat, was enough to see Denmark on the second spot in Group B. Most of the players are ready for this match, only Eriksen remain sidelined.

Wales vs Denmark Prediction:

Denmark won the last three competitive matches against Wales and they are favorites again. But something else is important for my pick - most of their mutual games (6 of the last 8) have ended with Under 2.5 goals. The Danes will try to score, but Wales play very tough and physical football, focused on protecting their own goal. The Dragons are waiting for their chance and that's corners and free-kicks. Usually their matches are low scoring and this one should not an exception. I don't expect more than two goals in Amsterdam. In case exactly two goals to be scored, Your stake will return.

Wales vs Denmark Pick: Under 2.0 goals @ 1.97 with Bet365

 

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Belgium vs Portugal Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Belgium:
Courtois, Alderweireld, Boyata, Vertonghen, Meunier, Witsel, Tielemans, Thorgan Hazard, De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Lukaku

Portugal:
Patricio; Dalot, Dias, Pepe, Guerreiro; Pereira, Renato Sanches, Moutinho; Bernardo Silva, Ronaldo, Diogo Jota

The match between Belgium and Portugal is certainly one of the most interesting ties in the first knock-out stage of the European Championship. The match will be played at Cartuja Stadium in Seville. Belgium qualified as winners of Group B, while Portugal ended on the third place in "Group of Death". However, we should enjoy a genuine derby match referred also as "Clash of the Titans". Belgium were superior so far and they have secured three victories. The Red Devils first beat Russia with 3:0. Romelu Lukaku was double scorer on that match, while Thomas Meunier also put his name on the scoring list. Denmark were the next victims. The Red Devils were one-goal down, but Kevin De Bruyne, who was sent on at the start of the second half, changed the game. He played a part in the equalizer, assisting Thorgan Hazard, and then scored in the winner with 20 minutes remaining after a brilliant move started by Lukaku. In the third round Roberto Martinez's players beat Finland with 2:0. Belgium have dominated and took advantage thanks to a late own goal from Finland keeper Lukas Hradecky, before Romelu Lukaku drilled a second. Coach Roberto Martinez made eight changes from their game with Denmark and rested the majority of his key players. Of course, there is no space for calculations now, so all the best should return to the starting eleven. Timothy Castagne is the only sidelined player. The full-back suffered a fractured eye socket in a sickening accidental collision during the win over Russia in St Petersburg. Castagne was operated on in Antwerp last week, with the surgery proving more complex than first thought. According to the doctors, “had the impact been just 3cm higher, Castagne may have suffered neurological damage and his career would have ended”.

Portugal are the reigning European Champions. With Cristiano Ronaldo in the squad, they are between the favorites again. They started the campaign with a high 3:0 win over Hungary. The victory was high, but wasn't easy as the final outcome suggests. The Selecao were unable to score until the 84th minute and it looked like Hungary will remain unbeaten. But Portugal was lucky in the finish of the match. They scored after Raphael Guerreiro's shot with the outside of the foot took a massive deflection off defender Willi Orban to break Hungary's brave resistance. It was lot easier after that. Cristiano Ronaldo took advantage from the situation and scored twice in the finish of the match. Ronaldo also found the back of the net in the next matches with Germany and France. However, the defense were not at desired level on both occasions. Two own first-half goals from Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro, as well as two strikes from Kai Havertz and Robin Gosens in the second half, saw Portugal losing the match in Munich with 4:2. Portugal were lucky to escape the defeat in the last match against France. Ronaldo gave them a lead after converting a penalty in the 31st minute, but France turned out the result thanks to Benzema's brace. Ronaldo drew Portugal level when he won and converted a second penalty in the 60th minute. Coach Santos has few injury issues ahead of this game. Nelson Semedo came off injured against France and is now rated as doubtful. With Joao Cancelo forced out before the tournament due to positive Coronavirus test and Ricardo Pereira not fit enough, Diogo Dalot could start as right back.

Belgium vs Portugal Prediction:

I expect both teams to score. Belgium are the World Number One and they should be considered as favorites. Not only for this match, but for the tournament. The players confidence is high after three victories in the group stage. With Kevin De Bruyne fully fit again, with Lukaku in fantastic form, Belgium should score, at least. But Portugal have Cristiano Ronaldo in great form. CR7 became the top scorer in the European Championship history with 14 goals, overtaking Michel Platini on nine goals. And he is not alone, Portugal have other good players, like Diogo Jota from Liverpool, Bruno Fernandes from Manchester United or Bernardo Silva from Manchester City. They are all able to make the difference in this kind of matches.

Belgium vs Portugal Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.88 with Pinnacle

 

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Croatia vs Spain Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Croatia:
Livakovic, Vrsaljko, Caleta-Car, Vida, Gvardiol, Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic, Vlasic, Petkovic, Perisic

Spain:
Simón, Azpilicueta, Laporte, Torres, Alba, Pedri, Busquets, Koke, Sarabia, Morata, Olmo

Croatia and Spain will face at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen in one of the most interesting matches in the round of 16. The bookmakers are favoring Spain, but this could be an additional motive for Croatian players. Zlatko Dalic’s men managed to handle the pressure and secured a progress thanks to a 3:1 win over Scotland. Nikola Vlasic secured an early lead that silenced the national stadium in Glasgow. The Scots managed to equalize just before half-time via Callum McGregor, but that was all they did. Luka Modric's sumptuous first-time shot after an hour restore the lead and Ivan Perisic netted the third in the finish. Modric became the oldest player to score a goal for Croatia at the European Championships with 35 years and 286 days. Interesting to mention, Modric also holds the record for Croatia's youngest scorer at the tournament. Luka had 22 years and 73 days when he found the back of the net against Austria in 2008. It was a big relief for Dalic as Croatia started the European Championship with a narrow 1:0 defeat to England in the first round. It was a disappointing display, they failed to create goal opportunities and deserved the loss. In the second match Croatia were close to another failure against Czech Republic. They were one-goal down after Dejan Lovren's elbow on Patrik Schick was deemed worthy of a penalty by VAR, but veteran Ivan Perisic equalized the result. Dalic has some injury and suspension worries ahead of this game. Dejan Lovren will not play due to the accumulated yellow cards, while three other players must be careful. Mateo Kovacic, Duje Caleta-Car and Marcelo Brozovic have received yellow cards in Croatia's opening match at the Euro against England and they are threatened with suspension if earn another. Of course, this is only if Croatia beats Spain and advanced to the quarterfinals. Borna Barisic is rated as doubtful due to injury.

Spain are looking for the fourth trophy at the European Championships. So far they won the competition in 1964, 2008 and 2012. However, the last major tournaments finished without success for the Spanish national team. La Roja exited the 2014 World Cup in the group stage, while failed to secure quarter-finals in Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. Spain weren't at desired level in the group. They started the competition with a goalless draw against Sweden, while in the second match played an 1:1 draw with Poland. Spain struggled to find the target despite boasting 85% and then 76% of possession. Two points from two matches and just one scored goal turned on the alarm and coach Luis Enrique "gave a lesson" to his players. And the response came immediately. A bizarre own goal from Martin Dubravka broke the deadlock in Seville. The Slovakian keeper, who earlier saved a penalty from Alvaro Morata, punched the ball into his own net after Sarabia's effort hit the crossbar and looped into the air. Aymeric Laporte doubled the lead in the first half, while Pablo Sarabia and Ferran Torres made it 4:0. Juraj Kucka set the final 5:0 with another own-goal. This was what Spain were waiting for and what they needed. The Red Fury played a fantastic match and deserved the victory. They totally paralyzed the Slovaks and didn't allow a single shot on target. The atmosphere in the squad is excellent, while the players confidence is higher. Enrique has no injury or suspension concerns ahead of this match. Alvaro Morata, the leading scorer in the squad with 19 goals, is expected to lead the line despite the missing penalty. As many coaches say, "Never change a winning team."

Croatia vs Spain Prediction:

Spain dominated their last match against Slovakia winning 5:0. Like Croatia, the last round's victory helped them to secure the knockout stage as runners-up. Both teams have improved and this should be a close game. Nevertheless, I think Spain are closer to the victory. Croatia are not the same team that finished as second at World Cup 2018, the absence of Rakitic and Mandzukic is big problem, Dalic has no adequate replacements. The suspension of Lovren is also a handicap as he is a big motivator. Spain should win the match.

Croatia vs Spain Pick: Spain to win @ 1.62 with Unibet

 

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England vs Germany Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

England:
Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw, Rice, Phillips, Henderson, Grealish, Sterling, Kane

Germany:
Neuer, Ginter, Hummels, Rudiger, Kimmich, Gundogan, Kroos, Gosens, Havertz, Sane, Gnabry

England and Germany meet in a very interesting match at Wembley in Round of 16. The winners of this encounter will face Sweden or Ukraine in the quarter-finals, while only Netherlands could be rated as strong opponents in the semi-finals. I don't want to underestimate the other three teams - Wales, Denmark and Czech Republic - but the winners of the clash between England and Germany are clear favorites on the way to the final.

England were solid in the group phase. They started the campaign with a narrow victory over Croatia. The match was very balanced and both teams had the same number of shots on target (2). However, the Three Lions managed to score through Raheem Sterling in the 57th minute following a perfect pass from man-of-the-match Kalvin Phillips. In the second round they played a goalless draw with Scotland, while in the last match beat Czech Republic with 1:0. Once again Raheem Sterling was the scorer, this time in the 12th minute of the match. The atmosphere in the squad is excellent, while the players confidence is high. Gareth Southgate is doing an excellent job and the fans are satisfied. It is not a surprise that he clearly retains the full support of the Football Association (FA) and is expected to hold formal talks over another extension after the Euros, irrespective of how the rest of the tournament goes. "Our support is unwavering," said FA chief executive Mark Bullingham. "We are 100% behind Gareth. We feel he is brilliant, both on and off the pitch. We want him to carry on. He’s doing a great job. Regardless of Tuesday. Absolutely. We would love him to carry on, for sure, beyond this contract." For this match Southgate has some issues. Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount come out of 10-day quarantine on the day of the match (Tuesday), so it is not clear about coach's decision. Mount would normally be a guaranteed starter, but having missed all of training sessions in the last period, nobody believes that Southgate will include him in the starting eleven. Reserve goalkeeper Dean Handerson is out injured, but that's not a problem as Jordan Pickford is yet to concede a single goal.

Germany are far from their best form. The misery culminated in March when they suffered a shocking defeat to North Macedonia in the World Cup qualifications. Coach Joachim Loew came under big pressure, and he made one painful decision - to recall the veterans Thomas Muller and Mats Humels. I wrote it was a painful decision because the duo were sensationally axed from the national side by Loew less than a year after featuring in a squad that as world champions crashed to a disastrous performance in the 2018 World Cup where they were eliminated at the group stage. In addition, the German Football Federation decided this EURO to be the last for Loew. Somehow it was expected and the 61-year-old will step down after 15 years. But Loew haven't said the last word. Die Mannschaft started the European Championship with a narrow 1:0 defeat to France, but in the second match destroyed Portugal with 4:2. Ronaldo scored first and put his national team ahead. But two own first-half goals from Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro, as well as two strikes from Kai Havertz and Robin Gosens in the second half, saw Germany winning the match in Munich with 4:2. The last match against Hungary was supposed to be an easy one. But it wasn't - Germany were minutes away from making an embarrassing early exit when midfielder Leon Goretzka, on as a substitute, equalized in the finish of the match. Most of the players are ready for this match, only Jonas Hofmann and Lukas Klostermann are rated as doubtful.

England vs Germany Prediction:

According to former England striker Gary Lineker, "Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win." Round of 16 have produced one of the biggest rivalries in international football - England against Germany. The Three Lions could be rated as favorites, particularly because the game will be played at Wembley. But beating Germany was never quite as simple as that. I expect a tight match with no more than two goals. England are yet to concede on the tournament, while Germans aren't strong as they were few years ago..

England vs Germany Pick: Under 2.5 goals @ 1.78 Pinnacle

 

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Sweden vs Ukraine Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Sweden:
Olsen, Lustig, Lindelöf, Danielson, Augustinsson, Larsson, Ekdal, Olsson, Forsberg, Isak, Berg

Ukraine:
Bushchan, Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Matvienko, Mykolenko, Shaparenko, Stepanenko, Zinchenko, Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk, Malinovskiy

Sweden will face Ukraine at Hampden Park in Glasgow in the last fixture of Round of 16. This will be the sixth mutual game, though only the last one was competitive. It happened at the Euro 2012 group stage and Ukraine won 2:1. What is very interesting, the current head-coach Andriy Shevchenko scored both goals for Ukraine after Zlatan Ibrahimovic previously sent the Scandinavians up front. But according to the bookmakers, Sweden are favorites now. There is a reason, they were fantastic in the group. Sweden secured progress as first, leaving teams like Spain and Poland behind. Sweden have excellent record in 2021 - seven victories and one draw on eight matches. In addition, coach Janne Andersson's men have registered two victories and one draw in three group stage. First they remained unbeaten against the biggest favorites Spain. Even more, the match that finished with a goalless draw was played in Sevilla. The Blue and Yellows then beat Slovakia with 1:0. RB Leipzig's Emil Forsberg converted a penalty with 13 minutes remaining after substitute Robin Quaison was brought down by goalkeeper Dubravka. That goal ended a run of 365 minutes without a goal for Sweden at the European Championship, since their opening group game at Euro 2016. In the last round Sweden beat Poland with 3:2 in a captivating match played in St Petersburg, Sweden led 2:0 at the hour mark thanks to two goals from Emil Forsberg, but Poland managed to equalize with Robert Lewandowski brace. However, substitute Viktor Claesson scored a 93rd-minute winner which saw Sweden finishing on the first place in Group E. Coach Andersson has no injury or suspension worries ahead of this match. He is expected to continue with a 4-4-2 formation, but has one dilemma about the man that will partnering Alexander Isak in the attack. Robin Quaison started against Poland, but failed to impress, so the veteran Marcus Berg could earn a place in the starting eleven.

Ukraine have suffered two defeats in the group, but still progressed. Their best performance was in the first round, against the favorites Netherlands. Shevchenko's men had come back from 2:0 down in Amsterdam, but were unlucky to concede in the 85th minute. After the goalless first half, Oranje secured two-goal lead thanks to Georginio Wijnaldum and Wout Weghorst. It looked the match winners are decided, but Ukraine needed just 4 minutes to equalize the result. Andriy Yarmolenko scored an outstanding goal in the 75th minute, while Roman Yaremchuk silenced the Dutch fans four minutes later. Nevertheless, Netherlands scored in the 85th minute through Dumfries and Ukraine left empty-handed. But in the second round came the first victory when Ukraine beat N.Macedonia with 2:1. Captain Andriy Yarmolenko took advantage from the poor defending after 28 minutes, before the West Ham forward assisted to Roman Yaremchuk five minutes later. The Macedonians were only able to reduce the advantage, but lost at the end. Three points from that match increased the players confidence, but it was a short-term. In the last round Austria outplayed them in Bucharest and Christoph Baumgartner's close-range finish have resulted with another defeat. The fans lost the hopes for the knock-out stages, but then a "small" miracle happened. Finland lost 2:0 to Belgium, while Slovakia lost 5:0 to Spain. All three sides had three points, but Finland and Slovakia were inferior due to a poor goal difference, so Ukraine grabbed the last ticket. Coach Andriy Shevchenko has some additional issues as winger Oleksandr Zubkov, who suffered a foot injury against the Netherlands, is rated as doubtful, as well as Denys Popov.

Sweden vs Ukraine Prediction:

I expect an interesting match in Glasgow. Both teams will look for a place in the
quarter-finals, though I give advantage to Sweden. They have a player able to make a difference - Alexander Isak. The 21-year-old became La Liga's young player of the year after scoring 17 goals in 34 games for Real Sociedad last season. Ukraine were lucky to qualified as they suffered two defeats in the group, beating only the Macedonian debutantes. They are simply too inconsistent.


Sweden vs Ukraine Pick: Sweden to win @ 2.45 with 10Bet