EURO 2024: The Ultra previews Saturday’s three games between HUNGARY v SWITZERLAND, SPAIN v CROATIA and ITALY v ALBANIA all with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
HUNGARY V SWITZERLAND
2pm Euro 2024 hits top gear on Saturday with three fixtures on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE. This is the start of an excellent run of wall-to-wall football all day every day that we only get at major tournaments! We kick off the day with Hungary and Switzerland clashing in Group A – while I did feel Germany are a little weak heading into this tournament as discussed in my Outright preview, it’s still highly likely that one of these two will be crashing out at the Group stage. This fixture is absolutely massive in that regard, and Switzerland come into the game as the favourites at 2.34 with Hungary 3.6 and the draw is 3.3 at the time of writing. At the last Euros, Switzerland dumped France out so they have good memories of this tournament – however they really didn’t impress in qualifying. They were handed a very easy Group and failed to top it with Romania ahead of them by five points. They were more competitive in the Nations League, but still finished third behind Spain and Portugal. On paper, Switzerland have a very good squad who all play at decent levels for their club. It just seems that the system just doesn’t work when you put them all together, and the manager has to take the blame for that generally.
Hungary are really on the way up coming into this tournament, and I was surprised to see Switzerland trading as short as 2.34 when I clicked into the market. I expected a much more open betting heat – Hungary topped their qualifying Group but you’d have to say they did have a reasonably easy draw in a Group with Serbia, Montenegro, Lithuania and Bulgaria. They had a very, very impressive Nations League though beating England and Germany – they actually didn’t lose a game in 2023. Some teams are coming into the tournament under a cloud with their fans on their back; it’s the opposite for Hungary because this squad and manager seem to have connected with the fans more than any other in recent times. They’ve shown that they can mix it with the better sides and while Switzerland have more talent in their squad, I feel when you put everything together Hungary perform better as team. I do like the Hungary bet at 3.6 but it’s a nice position to have the draw on our side too in what should be a very close game, so I’m happy with a confident lay on Switzerland – 2.34 is far too short in my opinion.
The Ultra Says:
Three points lay (liability) Switzerland to beat Hungary at 2.34 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/HunSwi
SPAIN V CROATIA
5pm Next we move onto Group B as Spain and Croatia clash. You could call this the Group of death with Spain, Croatia, Italy and Albania (who topped their qualifying Group) it in but we also have four third placed sides going through to the Last 16 – that does take a little edge off things in these situations! It will be fascinating to see how this one players out; Spain have a hugely talented squad but they had a shocker in the World Cup. Croatia turn into a different animal when we get to the knockout phase – they have been in the last two World Cup Semi-Finals but they don’t have a great record at the Euros. After topped their Nations League Group with Denmark, France and Austria they just lost out to Spain on penalties. Both sides will know each other very well from that. You could easily poke holes in their qualifying run; although Spain topped their Group in the end Scotland did make life more difficult than expected for them. Croatia finished second behind Turkey, you’d have to be a little disappointed with that but as I said above, they seemingly come alive in major tournaments! The big question here is can an ageing Luka Modric deliver in midfield?
Spain come into the game as the odds on favourites at 1.97 with Croatia 4.6 and the draw is 3.55 at the time of writing. Spain looked exceptionally good at Euro 2020, but obviously lost out on penalties to eventual winners Italy. A new manager gives them a more direct route, and their games might be a little bit more open this time around – the tactics sort of bypass the midfield. Who would want to not build a side around Rodri in midfield though? You have to say that the best days are behind Croatia’s midfield, but they are so experienced and really step their game up in the major tournaments that it’s hard to write them off. It will be interesting to see how this one pans out with Spain coming in slightly under the radar this time around – England, France, Germany and Spain are all shorter than them in the Outright market. I’m keen to keep stakes small here, and I do feel that the 1.97 on Spain is a little short; I feel that’s making the draw price at 3.55 very appealing and I’m happy with a small investment at the odds.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Draw at 3.55 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/SpaCro
ITALY V ALBANIA
8pm We stay in Group B to finish Saturday as Italy host Albania. Everyone will be expecting Italy to win here but they have definitely had their fair share of disappointments over recent times. You can’t get much worse than missing a major tournament, but they are defending Champions here – it’s easy to forget that after all that’s happened since! They were always likely to finish behind England but they ended up level on points with Ukraine which has to be a worry. They did top their Nations League Group against England, Germany and Hungary prior to qualifying though. Obviously after missing the World Cup, the team has had to go through a period of transition; no squad is going to survive a setback like that. On paper, they have a very talented squad lead by Inter Milan players; the manager seems an excellent fit but at the same time you can totally understand why they aren’t in the top five in the betting. This is a must win game against Albania because Spain will go off as favourites against Italy and obviously the Croatia game will be tight. Anything bar a comfortable win will see the alarm bells ringing right at the start of the tournament!
As you would expect, Italy come into the game as the red-hot favourites at 1.42 with Albania 10.0 and the draw is 4.9 at the time of writing. Albania topped their qualifying Group much to the surprise of most football fans. You have to say that it was the weakest qualifying Group of them all; it says more about Poland that they didn’t top it more than anything – they actually didn’t even finish in the top two with Czech Republic coming second. Albania only managed two points in a Nations League Group with Israel and Iceland but avoided relegation thanks to Russia being drawn in their Group and being made forfeit their games. Looking at the under-lining numbers, Albania are one of the worst sides to qualifying – they massively over-performed, but you do have to give them massive credit for grinding out as many results as they did. I feel Italy might be a good side to take on later in the tournament, but there’s a huge gulf in class between the sides here and I like Italy to cover the 1.5 goal handicap which is trading at a very appealing 2.27. That looks cracking value to me, and it’s my best bet of the day.
The Ultra Says:
Four points win Italy -1.5 goals to beat Albania at 2.27 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/ItaAlb
