DAY TWO OF EURO 2016: And a first appearance for both England and Wales. England have been in great form pre-tournament and face Russia at 8pm with Wales taking on Slovakia at 5pm. Match previews for all three games starting with Albania v Switzerland.
Albania v Switzerland 2-00
This is Albania’s first major tournament and they have a tough start against a very decent Switzerland side who look to be a solid bet here at around the 1.88 mark. Both sides were in the same qualifying group for the last World Cup were Switzerland won both games. Indeed Albania only managed seven goals in their seven games (effectively seven games as one was abandoned even though they were awarded a 3-0 win) in the Euro 2016 qualifying and five of those came against Armenia – they did however beat Portugal 1-0 away from home which was the highlight of their campaign.
Switzerland should have too much firepower for this Albania side however after qualifying quite comfortably behind England, winning seven of their eight games outside of playing England. The market aren’t expecting many goals here with under 2.5 currently priced around the 1.5 mark but Switzerland look the best bet at 1.88 – a 1-0 or 2-0 Switzerland win is also worth checking out in the correct score market, currently priced around 6.0 and 9.0
BETDAQ best bet:
Switzerland to beat Albania at 1.88.
Some Albania v Switzerland facts:
- Switzerland are unbeaten in the six times they’ve played Albania, winning five of those.
- Switzerland have never failed to score against Albania.
- Albania scored the fewest goals from the teams who qualified for Euro 2016.
- This is Albania’s first major tournament.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQAlbSwi
Wales v Slovakia 5-00
A massive game for both sides here in England’s group and if there is to be a winner, they will be well placed to qualify. Wales have suffered some recent setbacks since they went unbeaten in their first eight qualifying games, however you can’t too much into their losses as they were without Bale, and with him having scored or assisted nine of their 11 qualifying goals, it would be foolish to judge them without having him in the side as he obviously improves them immensely.
Slovakia came through qualifying just as good as Wales, beating Spain along the way and they can include the World Champions Germany in their recent scalps as well, it’s quite difficult to split the sides here and the market rightly reflects that being so open with both sides trading in and around the 2.9 mark. We can see this being a tight games but there isn’t too much value in under 2.5 goals at around 1.5. If there is to be a Wales goal, it’s highly likely that Bale will be the man to score it given his recent record – it’s also worth baring in mind that he has the highest amount of shots for any player in the qualifying.
BETDAQ best bet:
Gareth Bale to score anytime at 2.74 or bigger.
Some Wales v Slovakia facts:
- This is both sides first European Championship.
- Gareth Bale’s first ever goal for Wales was against Slovakia.
- This is both manager’s first major tournament as International managers.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQWalSlo
England v Russia 8-00
England get their campaign underway against Russia at 8-00 in the Stade Velodrome and they have every reason to think they can get off to a winning start having won ten from ten in qualifying, they’re currently priced around the 1.95 mark and that looks to be a shade of value. They should definitely have the class to beat this Russia side, but you’d have to worry a bit about England’s poor record in their first game in the Euro’s – they have yet to win one, losing four and drawing four – there has been, what has seemed to be, a more relaxed build up this year though and the players should benefit from slightly less pressure.
Russia only won five of their nine games (had one abandoned and awarded a 3-0 win) in qualifying and that was against teams of a lower quality than this England side, it was 0-0 after 65+ minutes when that game was abandoned too which might have made things interesting given a draw there in qualifying. You can argue this Russian side is getting a bit old for this level and their attacking options aren’t the best – you’d have to fancy England to find the net at some stage and they could keep a clean sheet too, but over all England look to be the best bet in the 90 minutes market here at 1.95.
BETDAQ best bet:
England to beat Russia at 1.95.
Some England v Russia facts:
- England have never open their opening game in the Euro’s (won eight, drawn eight).
- England were the only side to win ten from ten in qualifying.
- Russia have only kept two clean sheets from their 15 European Championship games
- Russia have lost their opening game on their last two trips to the Euro’s
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQEngRus
