Sports Blog 14/06/2016: UEFA Euro 2016 – Austria vs Hungary + Portugal vs Iceland, Tuesday 14th June 2016

With few Euro 2016 surprises so far will the teams in Group F throw up any shockers this Tuesday?

Kicking things off are Austria and Hungary, who face off in Bordeaux at 5pm on ITV. Austria were one of, if not the, biggest surprise of the qualification period. Finishing on 28 points, second only to England’s unbeaten campaign, the Austrians bested the likes of Russia and Sweden to finish 1st in their group. Given the kindness of their finals-draw Marcel Koller’s men will looking to at the very least reach the last 16, propelled by FC Basel’s Marc Janko. Janko scored a third of Austria’s goals during qualifying, and heads into Tuesday afternoon at a Super Mega PGM of 33-39. Also set to shine is Bayern Munich’s David Alaba. His fluidity between midfield and defence, alongside his savviness going forwards (he nabbed 4 goals in qualifying), makes him one of the most well rounded players in the competition, and will be integral to Austria’s campaign.



Narrowly missing out on the automatic 3rd place qualification spot that went to Turkey, Hungary instead had to go through the play-offs, beating Norway 3-1 on aggregate to reach their first major tournament since the 1986 World Cup. Luckily for Hungary the relatively lower quality of their group leaves them with a decent chance of reaching the last 16, the country at a Group F index spread of 4-5.5 against Iceland’s 5.75-7.25, Austria’s 11.5-13 and Portugal’s 16.25-17.75.

If Austria can bring their qualification form to the tournament proper than they shouldn’t have too many issues on Tuesday afternoon, with Spreadex offering an Austria/Hungary Goal Supremacy spread of 0.7-0.9 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.15-2.35.

Tuesday evening then sees Portugal stake their claim for the title as they take on Iceland at 8pm on BBC One. While not as explicitly built around one-player (aka the Swedish model), Portugal are nevertheless incredibly dependant on Cristiano Ronaldo. Their progress in the tournament, then, will in large part be down to how the Real Madrid star performs in France. Thankfully for Portugal Spreadex are expecting big things from Ronaldo; he favourite to be the tournament’s top scorer at 6/1, and heads into the country’s opener with a Super Mega PGM of 63-73. It isn’t all Ronaldo, however; Bayern Munich’s recent acquisition Renato Sanches will be looking to make his mark, while Joao Moutinho will be a vital presence in midfield.



If Austria were one of the biggest surprises of the Euro qualifiers, then Iceland weren’t too far behind. Finishing 2nd in Group A, 2 points behind the Czech Republic and ahead of Turkey and, most astonishingly, the Netherlands, Iceland have already achieved a lot for a country with a population roughly the same as Leicester. The undoubted start of the side is Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson, his 6 goals in qualifying (half of those coming against the Netherlands) leaving him with a Super Mega PGM of 7-10 ahead of Tuesday evening’s game.

Beyond the presence of Portugal Group F is one of the most open in the competition, with no real clear candidate for 2nd or 3rd place, though that will all change immeasurably if Iceland can get a point against the Portuguese. It looks like that may be difficult, however, Spreadex offering a Portugal/Iceland Goal Supremacy spread of 1.15-1.35 with a Total Goals spread of 2.25-2.45.

Recent Posts: