The European Championships continue at full speed, as the group stage hots up. The second round of games in each group gets underway in midweek, and they are make or break clashes for some nations in the fight to make the last 16. After a strong start, can the tournament continue at this fantastic pace?
France are in action on Wednesday night, and they’ll be aiming for an improved performance against Albania. Thursday’s football looks incredible, and it starts with England taking on Wales in Group B. That’s followed by two Group C clashes, as Northern Ireland take on Ukraine, and then Germany face Poland. Here we’re looking ahead to all four of those clashes, and we’ve picked out a betting tip on each.
Wednesday 15th June 2016
France v Albania (20:00) – Olivier Giroud to score any time (11/10 with Bet365)
The hosts had a pretty poor start to their campaign against Romania, despite picking up three points. They needed a late Dimitri Payet stunner to win the game, having toiled for long periods. Their defence looked questionable at best, and that was up against a side with a pretty poor qualifying record.
The Romanians were goal shy and won just five games in a pretty straightforward group. They weren’t fancied to do much, but they really put a dent in France’s title credentials. The hosts will need to improve if they’re going to make it all the way to the final next month. Will we see them stepping things up here?
You could make the case that Albania are trickier opponents than Romania. The Albanians looked nervous in their first ever match at this competition on Saturday. They did manage to pen Switzerland back for long periods of that game, and they should have taken a point despite only having 10 men.
They finished above Serbia and Denmark in qualifying, which shows that they’re a strong unit. All the markets are pointing towards a heavy France win, but we don’t like backing that at such short odds. Instead we’re tipping Olivier Giroud to continue his great form, having hit eight goals in five games. He’s 11/10 with Bet365 to score any time.
Thursday 16th June 2016
England v Wales (14:00) – Both teams to score (21/20 with Coral)
This huge game in Lens could potentially be overshadowed by the threat of hooliganism, but hopefully we’ll be focusing on the football. This clash between the two British sides is a historic one, and a chance for the Welsh to really prove themselves. Having won their opening match 2-1 against Slovakia, they sit top of the group and two points ahead of England. A win would see them through to the next round, but can Gareth Bale inspire them to victory? His individual talent will play a key role, as they look to get past an England side who have far more strength in depth.
The problem for England is that their strong squad didn’t impress against Russia in the opening game. They were being gifted possession and control by their injury hit opponents, but the Three Lions never looked clinical. It was a game that they should have won, but they threw it away at the end. Roy Hodgson certainly has some defensive issues, and we can see Bale causing problems.
England should have enough to get through a Wales defence which has conceded four times in two games. With that in mind, we see both teams to score as the best bet here. It’s priced at 21/20 with Coral.
Ukraine v Northern Ireland (17:00) – Ukraine to win to nil (6/5 with Coral)
Northern Ireland wanted to record a Wales-like win on Sunday, but they lacked cutting edge against Poland. NI had the defensive organisation to stifle their opponents as much as possible, but they looked just short of having enough at this level. They were always going to have a tough time with the step up, but now Michael O’Neill knows his side have a lot more work to do. With Germany in their final game, this is the last realistic chance that the Ulstermen have for booking a last 16 place. This has become a must win game for them, or else they’ll be heading home after the group stage.
Ukraine had their opener against Germany, but that clash will be very different from this one. The Ukrainians were on the back foot against the world champions, and they couldn’t make the most of their rare chances. Here they’ll be dominating possession, guarding against rare breaks from the Ulstermen. Given how little this NI has going forward, that shouldn’t prove to be too much of a problem. We can’t see O’Neill’s men getting anything from this clash, as they just lack goals. A win to nil for the Ukrainians is our tip, and it’s priced at 6/5 with Coral.
Germany v Poland (20:00) – Draw (10/3 with Betfair)
The Germans may have got off to a winning start, but they were far from impressive in their victory over Ukraine. There were problems at the back for them, openings that better sides will take advantage of. Given how wary their opponents were of committing too many men forward, the world champions were let off lightly. They have time to reorganise, but without any top class full backs it’s hard to see them managing that. The defensive worries for the Germans are likely to last for a lot longer, and that spells trouble here.
Ukraine may not have pushed forward against Germany, but Poland will have less fear. They beat the Germans in qualifying, and now they have their first ever European Championship win under their belts. With the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik up front, the Poles pack an attacking punch. They have enough to trouble Germany, and they look to have tightened up a little bit at the back. With the World Cup winners in trouble, we think Poland can take advantage and come away with a draw in this one, putting them in control going into their final game.
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