EURO 2024: The Ultra previews Friday’s games between SLOVAKIA v UKRAINE, POLAND v AUSTRIA and NETHERLANDS v FRANCE all with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
SLOVAKIA V UKRAINE
2pm We have another fascinating day from Euro 2024 on Friday – it’s the first time that we haven’t had an odds on favourite on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE! Austria are quite close at 2.02 to beat Poland, but we have three very interesting markets to go through. We begin the day in Group E as Slovakia take on Ukraine. Slovakia produced the shock of the tournament so far when beating Belgium in their opening game – not many would have given them a chance there but they’ve have put themselves into a cracking position now. We also had a surprise result in the other opening game too with Romania beating Ukraine – that leaves the two favourites to progress at the start of the Group on the backfoot! This is a must win game for Ukraine to get themselves back into the tournament – they have to fancy their chances given Slovakia started the tournament as one of the rank outsiders. I think they were in the bottom three in the market, trading over 800.0! Ukraine come into the game as the favourites at 2.18 with Slovakia 3.9 and the draw is 3.4 at the time of writing. A draw wouldn’t be a bad result for Slovakia at all here given the situation, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them adopt a very cagey approach – they defended very well under pressure against Belgium.
Belgium finished the game with an xG of over 2.0, and anyone that watched the game will know that they should have won. Once again, Romelu Lukaku fluffed his lines in front of goal in a major tournament for Belgium – we saw that at the World Cup and he missed some major chances again. Slovakia finished the game with an xG created under 1.0, but they did spend most of the game defending after all. Ukraine were very disappointing against Romania; they finished the game with an xG created under 1.0 as well. That was disappointing given they came into the tournament with good momentum after a decent qualifying campaign that saw them finish on the same points as Italy behind England. I do feel that the 2.18 is a little short on Ukraine here, and I would definitely lean towards that in the match odds market. I can see Slovakia putting XI men behind the ball again here, and Ukraine really struggled to create chances against Romania so Under 2.5 goals makes a lot of appeal here at 1.76. This game screams a lack of chances between two pretty average attacking sides; I wouldn’t even rule out a 0-0 which is trading 10.0 in the Correct Score market.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Under 2.5 goals at 1.76 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/SloUkr
POLAND V AUSTRIA
5pm Next we go to D, and we should know a lot more about where we stand in this Group by the end of the evening. France and Netherlands clash later after they both won their opening games against these sides. For Poland and Austria, this is a must win game to stay in the tournament. A draw probably isn’t good enough given they’ll have to win their final game against either Netherlands or France, but the reality is given the Group they were drawn in they were always going to have to do that anyway! Poland had a great start against the Netherlands going 1-0 up, but Netherlands turned it around and found the winning goal in the last ten minutes. They finished the game with the higher xG figure, and deserved to win on balance. Poland have been in decline for a while now, and it’s no surprise to see Austria as the favourites here. Austria are trading 2.02 with Poland 4.1 and the draw is 3.65 at the time of writing. Austria had a decent first half against France even though they were behind, but they really conceded a lot of chances in the second half. France could have easily won 2-0 or 3-0.
I’m not a fan of Poland at all – they performed very poorly in qualifying. They got handed a very easy Group on paper and completely fluffed their lines to end up in the playoffs, they came very close to missing out too as it went to penalties against Wales. They have been in decline for a while, and they do seem like a side that you’d want to be against. However, at the end of the day betting is all about getting value and the 2.02 on Austria here feels very short. Austria have improved a lot under Ralf Rangnick, and it’s probably a little harsh judging them against France given they are one of the tournament favourites but I just didn’t expect to see them trading as short as 2.02 when I clicked into the market. As I said above, I’m not a fan of Poland so I’m happy to keep stakes small here, but a lay of Austria at the odds looks a nice value position in my opinion.
The Ultra Says:
One point lay (liability) Austria to beat Poland at 2.02 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/PolAus
NETHERLANDS V FRANCE
8pm We finish Friday with a cracker as Netherlands and France clash in Group D! Both sides got the job done in their opening game, and we’re well on our way to see these two sides finish first and second. What order that comes in will likely be decided on this game – these two look a level above Poland and Austria in the Group with them. These two will know each other very well at this stage having been in the same qualifying Group too. France topped that Group by four points, they opened qualifying with a 4-0 win over the Netherlands in Paris and then won 2-1 away in Amsterdam with both goals from Mbappe. France got an injury scare in their 1-0 win over Austria when Mbappe got a broken nose, news broke on Tuesday that he has to have surgery but France expect him to play in a mask for the rest of the tournament when he returns. It’s likely he’s out for the two Group games. We should have a high quality game here; we had two entertaining games in qualifying so hopefully we get more of the same here. As you would expect, France come into the game as the favourites at 2.34 with Netherlands trading 3.45 and the draw is also the same price at 3.45 at the time of writing.
It took France a while to warm up against Austria, but they were superb in the second half; as I said in my preview of the Austria game above – France could have easily won 2-0 or 3-0. Netherlands created a little less, but they have mainly been well set up and focused on being solid at the back lately. They went too negative at the World Cup, barely creating anything. They seem to have the ideal middle ground at the moment, and it will be interesting to see what kind of tactics they employ here. If they go toe-to-toe attack, I feel they’ll easily get outplayed by this excellent French side. I have to say that the 2.34 is a little too big to ignore in my opinion. We saw in qualifying that France are a level above the Netherlands, and I’d have them possibly ten ticks shorter here. We should get a reasonably open game, and Over 2.5 goals is definitely of interest too at 2.08 but it’s hard to see past France at 2.34 as the best bet here. That’s looks a cracking position to finish the day, and it’s my most confident bet on Friday.
The Ultra Says:
Three points win France to beat Netherlands at 2.34 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/NetFra
