Can England avoid the same heartbreak they saw at the World Cup in their Euros semi against the Netherlands?

The Three Lionesses have had quite the summer. The tournament kicked off with a barnstormer of a fixture against local rivals Scotland. A hat-trick from Jodie Taylor helped England on their way to a whopping 6-0 victory – easily the biggest win of the competition so far – with contributions from Ellen White, Jordan Nobbs and Toni Duggan.



An ostensibly tougher tie followed in their second match against Spain, only for Mark Sampson’s ladies to make easy work of La Roja, with very early and very late goals from Fran Kirby and, again, Taylor giving England all 3 points. They went into their final game needing just a point from Euro-debutantes Portugal, but came out the other side unbeaten thanks to Duggan and second half winner from Nikita Parris.

England were rewarded for this run with a difficult quarter-final fixture against France, who had surprisingly failed to top Group C. Only a goal separated the two sides after a tense game, Taylor once again stepping up for England to take her tournament tally to an unsurpassed 5 goals. It came at a cost, however. Goalkeeper Karen Bardsley broke her leg in a collision with captain Steph Houghton, while midfielder Jill Scott now misses the semi-final after picking up her second yellow of the competition.

Like England, the Netherlands are yet to lose a game. Narrow wins over 2013 runners-up Norway, Denmark and Belgium allowed the Euro-hosts to top Group A, setting up a quarter-final against Olympic silver medallists Sweden. Buoyed by the home crowed the Dutch swept to a 2-0 victory, with goals from Lieke Martens (her second of the competition) and Vivianne Miedema.

Given that tonight’s game could well see the biggest, mainly orange, crowd of the competition so far the semi-final isn’t going to be easy for England. However, they are favourites to win the whole competition, at an Outright Index spread of 32-35 and fixed odds of 11/10, and head to De Grolsch Veste with a (admittedly narrow) England/Netherlands (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.1-0.3 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.05-2.25.

Before England (hopefully) destroy the Dutch, Denmark take on Austria in the first semi-final. The Danes finished Group A in 2nd place behind the Netherlands, having lost 1-0 to the hosts in their second game. Their tournament effectively looked over at this point as they were drawn against Germany in the quarters, a country who has won the last 6 competitions (and 8 titles in total). Yet in the biggest shock of the tournament the Danes actually won 2-1, goals from Nadia Nadim just after the break and Theresa Nielsen 7 minutes before the final whistle overturning Isabel Kerschowski’s 3rd minute strike.



Austria have had just as tense a journey to the semis as their opponents. They managed to best France – who are ranked 3rd in the world – to the top of Group B, before facing Spain in the quarters. Things were stuck at 0-0 after extra time, forcing the game to penalties; 5 spotless spot kicks later and Austria were in the semis of their first ever major international competition.

Both sides have gotten further than expected; however, it appears that the Danes’ Germany win stands them in better stead, with Spreadex offering a Denmark/Austria Goal Supremacy spread of 0.1-0.3 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.-2.3.