EURO 2024: The Ultra previews Wednesday’s games between CROATIA v ALBANIA, GERMANY v HUNGARY and SCOTLAND v SWITZERLAND all with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
CROATIA V ALBANIA
2pm Euro 2024 continues on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE as we begin the second Group matches on Wednesday. By now everyone has formed their opinion on sides after seeing them first time out; some are in a good position while some have their back against the wall. We kick off the day in Group B as Croatia meet Albania. These two got off to a bad start with losses against Spain and Italy – everyone would have felt Albania would finish bottom of this Group so there is more pressure on Croatia to get back into the mix again. They will be hoping for a Spain win against Italy, and then if they win here we go to a massive final game in the Group. Croatia played well against Spain; possibly the alarm bells are ringing after the result but Spain could easily win the tournament. This is a big drop in class for Croatia, and it’s a game they must win. We’re going to keep having the debate that their midfield is ageing, and maybe finally this is the tournament that kicks in – you could have said the same about them at the 2022 World Cup but they reached the Semi-Finals, but we didn’t see any signs in their opening fixture. Croatia come into the game as the odds on favourites at 1.53 with Albania 8.0 and the draw is 4.4 at the time of writing.
Albania might have topped their qualifying Group, but they were exceptionally lucky. Poland massively under-performed in an “easy” Group for them on paper. Albania definitely over-performed, but they didn’t disgrace themselves against Italy in their opening game. They shocked Italy with the fastest goal in European Championship history. While the score line of 3-0 to Spain took all the headlines, Croatia actually played very well. They had more shots, and finished the game with a higher xG figure. It is worrying that they created more than Spain and failed to score. For that reason, I’m going to keep stakes a little low here however looking at the under-lining numbers everything points to an easy win for Croatia here. I couldn’t put anyone off the Croatia win at 1.53, however I’m going to go for something a little bigger in price. I feel Croatia can cover the 1.5 handicap which is currently trading 2.58. I feel this looks cracking value, and I would have a larger stake on it bar Croatia fluffing their lines in front of goal in their opening game – it would have been a five star NAP, however three points is still a confident bet and feels like the right stake here.
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Croatia -1.5 goals to beat Albania at 2.58 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/CroAlb
GERMANY V HUNGARY
5pm Next we move to Group A with the hosts Germany back in action against Hungary. Germany came into this tournament with plenty of question markets – a poor World Cup and a Hansi Flick reign ending in disaster left Germany in a bad place. Because they didn’t have to qualify for this, most of the confidence was based on friendlies and just general optimism that kicks in from fans when you host! They weren’t a popular choice in the Outright market coming into the start, but within 20 minutes they had the Scotland game won and suddenly everyone wanted to back them as Euro 2024 winners. Football moves quickly! They will face tougher tests ahead, and as I said in my Outright market the Group stage is not the time to take on Germany – that will come later in the tournament. Hungary came into Euro 2024 in a great place – the Nations League and qualifying had went very well but they were humbled quite quickly against Switzerland. I felt that they would get a result prior to that game, but they were completely outplayed. These two met in the Nations League with Hungary finishing ahead of Germany – they actually beat them 1-0 in Leipzig and drew 1-1 in Budapest.
Germany come into the game as the red-hot favourites at 1.29 with Hungary 13.5 and the draw is 6.6 at the time of writing. I have to say I was surprised when I clicked into the market to see Germany as short as 1.29! They started at 1.3 to beat Scotland, and I feel Hungary have been a better side than Scotland recently. It’s definitely an over-reaction to the first game, but you can’t blame the market – Hungary didn’t perform against Switzerland. I couldn’t put anyone off a small lay on Germany at the odds but as I said above, they are very likely to win every game in this Group so I’m going to stay out of the match odds market here. I would lean towards Hungary keeping things tight because they did look very well set-up coming into the tournament. They conceded a high xG figure against Switzerland though which does put me off the handicap position. I feel Hungary can score at some point, and Both Teams To Score is trading 2.18 which is appealing – Germany were very good at the back against Scotland, but I would have Both Teams To Score a little shorter. Happy to keep stakes small in this one.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Both Teams To Score at 2.18 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/GerHun
SCOTLAND V SWITZERLAND
8pm We finish Wednesday at Euro 2024 with Scotland taking on Switzerland. Scotland came into the tournament with a lot of optimism but that was quickly dashed against Germany! They had a horrible start and never recovered. As tough as it is to take a 5-1 loss, the reality here is that Germany were always likely to top Group A. Everything is still to play for in behind, Scotland were always going to have to get results against Switzerland Hungary to get through and nothing has changed in that regard. Switzerland got off to the perfect start with a win over Hungary, and they can put the race for second to bed here with a win – depending on Germany v Hungary obviously but you’d have to expect a German win there. Switzerland were very impressive in their opening game against Hungary, they created a high xG figure and they now come into this game as the odds on favourites. Switzerland are trading 1.9 with Scotland 4.7 and the draw is 3.75 at the time of writing. We saw a lot of memes on X after the Germany game of Scotland having an xG of 0.00 and needless to say that’s an area that they have to improve here. Switzerland keep Hungary down to a reasonable xG and creating chances will be the major worry for Scotland here.
Based on the opening games, the 1.9 feels a little big on Switzerland here. However, they came into the tournament in a pretty bad place – they had a poor qualifying campaign finishing five points behind Romania. They still got through though, which is the aim of the game and their squad has tonnes of experience from Europe’s elite leagues. I would have said that Scotland came into the tournament in a better spot, but that first performance from Switzerland was very impressive. I think the problem for Scotland is definitely going forward, and then as we saw against Germany if they go behind early things can go very badly. Scotland will struggle again going forward here in my opinion; I felt we’d see a very cagey game against Germany will them sitting back, but that idea was blown away. Under 2.5 goals is trading 1.82 here so the market is expecting a reasonably cagey game, but I feel Both Teams Not To Score looks a nice position at 1.92. I couldn’t put anyone off either bet to be honest, but at ten ticks bigger I’m happy with the Both Teams Not To Score bet.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Both Teams Not To Score at 1.92 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/ScoSwi
