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BIG MATCH PREVIEW

Czech Republic v England, 8pm ITV1
After a tight 1-0 victory against Croatia and an underwhelming 0-0 draw with Scotland, the Three Lions have yet to really show their potential as one of the favourites to win the tournament. They will need to put that right and produce a much better all-round performance against the Czechs if they want to grab a victory – who currently top the group ahead of England on goal difference.

Both sides have now secured their qualification for the next round due to other results going in their favour on Monday, but there is still uncertainty over who they will face next – and who the more favourable position opposition will be. The winner of the group will likely face a harder round of 16 test in the runner up from the ‘Group of Death’, while the group runner up will face the runner up from group E – which could be either Spain, Poland, Sweden or Slovakia.

In terms of the match at hand, the Three Lions have only met on 3 occasions with tonight’s opponents – 2 of which came in the qualification round for these Euros in 2019. Sharing the spoils with a 2-1 Czech victory in Prague and a 5-0 win for England at Wembley, a memorable individual performance was that of Raheem Sterling in that big win – with the winger scoring a hat-trick with goals in the 24th, 62nd and 68th minutes.

With a PGM spread of 154, anything similar tonight could yield huge profit – with Sterling PGMs at 15-18 pre match. Remember – the City man has been England’s only goalscorer in this tournament after his strike against Croatia in matchday one. And remember, if Sterling doesn’t score FIRST tonight but does score LAST, you can claim back your stake as a free bet of up to £25 with our First Goalscorer Insurance – available for every match at the Euros!

On the Czech side, striker Patrik Schick has been the star man so far, grabbing 3 goals in first 2 matches. Were he to grab another goal tonight, he would be only the second Czech player to score in all 3 group matches of a EURO finals since Milan Baros in 2004. We have Schick SMMs at 16-20 on the spreads, and he is available on the fixed odds at 14/5 to Score Anytime.

Spreadex fancy England to get the job done and secure a round of 16 tie at Wembley, with an England/Czech Republic Supremacy spread of 1-1.2 available, as well as a Total Goals spread of 2.4-2.6 and Total Goal Minutes at 123-133. On the fixed odds, England are at 8/15, with the Czech’s at 7/1 and the Draw at 14/5.


WILL SCOTLAND QUALIFY FOR THE KNOCKOUTS?

Croatia v Scotland, 8pm ITV4
After holding England to an impressive 0-0 stalemate at Wembley, Scotland have a final opportunity to qualify for the knockout stages if they manage to beat Croatia at Hampden Park. At the very least, the Scots have given themselves a chance and kept the match alive as a meaningful contest, and they will surely look to make home advantage count and sneak into the knockouts against the odds.

Although losing 2-0 to the Czech Republic in their opening match, it would be unfair to say that Scotland have performed badly in this tournament. A bigger problem has been a lack of cutting edge up front, which led to several promising attacking situations being squandered – both against the Czechs and against England at Wembley.

With results elsewhere playing in the Scots’ favour, 4 points will be enough to qualify from the group. However, the same applies to Croatia, and the 2018 World Cup finalists will surely be fancying their chances against a team that is – at least on paper – less talented and less experienced at the major tournaments. However, the Croats have been underwhelming in their two matches so far, and it remains to be seen how they handle the vociferous atmosphere that the Scottish fans will undoubtedly create.

A draw between these two will see both teams out and will likely see Ukraine grab qualification as one of the best 3rd place teams. As Finland are the fourth 3rd place team as it stands (on 3 points and a -2 goal difference), a solitary point for both these sides will leave them on 2 points, thus leaving Croatia as the worst 3rd place side.

The omens aren’t bad for the Scots based on the H2Hs between these sides – they are unbeaten against Croatia in all of the previous matches, although 3 of the 5 were draws. They will be hoping to emulate their result from 2013, when they secured a 2-0 victory at home. A repeat result will secure qualification.

Spreadex are expecting a very tight affair, with a Croatia-Scotland Goal Supremacy spread of 0-0.2 on offer, along with Total Goals at 2.6-2.8, Total Goal Minutes at 134-144. On the fixed odds, Croatia are at 7/5, with Scotland at 9/5 and the Draw at 14/5.


LAST NIGHT’S WINNERS

GROUP B
Belgium ended their group campaign with another impressive and morale-boosting victory, denying a spirited Finland side automatic qualification with a hard-fought 2-0 victory. The Belgians were dominant throughout but came up against an inspired Lukas Hradecky in the Finland goal. However, it was Hradecky who had a horrible moment of bad luck with just over 15 minutes to go. As Thomas Vermaelen attacked a corner with a great header that crashed off the post, the ball inadvertently hit Hradecky on the hand and bounced over the line, with the ‘keeper unable to claw it away.

The hugely impressive Romelu Lukaku then added the icing on the cake, showing great strength in the box to take a pass into his path, turn and produce a powerful first-time shot which gave Hradecky no chance, and led to the Red Devils winning all 3 group matches for the second tournament in a row after the 2018 World Cup.

For Finland, an anxious wait remains to see if they end as one of the best third-placed teams, although with a -2 goal difference that looks highly unlikely.

In the other match in Group B, Denmark knew that they had to handily beat Russia and hope for a favour from Belgium against the Finns, and they certainly played their own part. After grabbing a 2-0 lead with a brilliant strike from outside the box and then a horror back pass being capitalised on, the Danes had to deal with some nervous moments after Russia brought the score back to 2-1 with a penalty.

However, the Danes were not to be denied in Copenhagen, and two more brilliant strikes putting Russia finally to the sword. With the news of Belgium’s win filtering through simultaneously, the atmosphere was both euphoric and emotional after the events of Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest at the same ground just 9 days previous. Denmark will now continue their campaign with a round of 16 tie against Wales, while Belgium will play a third-place team from Group A/E/F.

GROUP C
In Group C, Austria knew only a win would be enough to leapfrog Ukraine into second place and an automatic qualification for the round of 16, and they produced a fantastic display of defensive solidity and threatening from set pieces to completely neutralise a hugely disappointing Ukraine side who only needed to avoid defeat to qualify in 2nd place. With David Alaba man-marking Andriy Yarmolenko out of the game, he capped off a MOTM-performance by producing an inch-perfect corner which was finished by Cristoph Baumgartner.

The Austrians now face a round of 16 tie with Italy at Wembley and will be proud regardless of that outcome after qualifying out of the group for the first time in their history. For Ukraine, there is now a nervous wait to see if they manage to end as one of the best 3rd placed teams. For that to be secured, the Ukrainians will likely need a draw in the match between Scotland and Croatia, or for Spain to beat Slovakia and Poland not to beat Sweden, or for France to beat Portugal by a 3-goal margin.

In the dead rubber between the Netherlands and North Macedonia, the Dutch impressed once again with a comfortable 3-0 victory, finishing their group stage full of confidence and belief. Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum continued their strong form, and Frank de Boer’s side may well be a dark horse in the knockout rounds if they continue their expansive and exciting style of play and remain solid in defence. They will now play a third-place team from group D/E/F in Budapest.

For North Macedonia, their underdog run comes to an end with 3 defeats from 3, although the tournament allowed them to showcase their football on the biggest European stage and allowed their national legend Goran Pandev to perform at a major tournament and even score a goal. Pandev will now likely retire, but the North Macedonians should be hopeful of building for the future from here.


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