Sports

The Scout: EURO 2020 Day 3

England vs Croatia

England and Croatia feature in the opening match of Group D being played at Wembley Stadium.

England enter EURO 2020 with perhaps the best core of young talent in the tournament. Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) and Mason Mount (Chelsea) are the future of English football, but are more than capable of making noise right now. They also have Harry Kane up front who will cause plenty of headaches for this Croatian backline.

Croatia is an experienced side with world class talent, but their golden generation is coming to end. Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) and Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan) are all towards the end of their playing career.

Gareth Southgate has so many offensive weapons to choose from and his starting XI is a complete mystery, and a complete luxury. I’m expecting England to finish top in Group D and for this to be an exciting start to the tournament.

SUGGESTED BET: England WIN & Both Teams To Score @ $4*


Austria vs North Macedonia

Group C gets underway with both Austria and North Macedonia looking to record their first win the European Championship.

These countries played twice in qualifying with Austria winning both encounters. Austria, with David Alaba (Bayern Munich) and midfielder Marcel Sabitzer (RB Leipzig) are deserved favourites to win again.

It has been 27 years since North Macedonia competed in a major tournament and they are the lowest ranked FIFA nation in the competition – coming in at 62nd. They will be keen to prove they belong but look outclassed by Austria in just about every position on the field.

SUGGESTED BET: Austria HT/FT @ 2.80*


Netherlands vs Ukraine

The two strongest nations in Group C do battle with the Netherlands and Ukraine getting their Euro 2020 campaigns underway in Amsterdam. This is a pivotal game that will very likely determine who wins the Group.

Dutch manager Frank de Boer has a great pool of talent at his disposal including Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona) and goal scoring machine Memphis Depay (Lyon). The Netherlands have a far better side on paper and will no doubt be one of the more one of the more attacking teams in the tournament.

Memphis Depay is the main man up front for the Netherlands, and scored six goals in his last six games for Lyon. This month already he has scored a double against Scotland and converted a penalty against Georgia. He will get his chances again.

SUGGESTED BET: Memphis Depay First Goalscorer @ $4*

*Odds correct as at 6pm, 12th June 2021.

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