EURO 2024 QUALIFIERS: The Ultra previews Friday’s qualifiers between FRANCE v NETHERLANDS and SWEDEN v BELGIUM both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
FRANCE V NETHERLANDS
7.45pm The Euro 2024 qualifiers continue on BETDAQ Betting Exchange, and we have two cracking fixtures to focus on this Friday night. We’ve definitely started qualifying with some glamorous fixtures, and we start the evening with France hosting the Netherlands. Both sides will be very confident of finishing in the top two in Group B. They have the Republic of Ireland, Greece and Gibraltar in their Group, and there’s pretty much no danger there. Greece will be delighted that they already have a playoff spot thanks to the Nations League given the draw! France went through a very strange Nations League where they were more likely to get relegated than win their Group. In the end they finished in third behind Croatia and Denmark, only a point away from relegation but obviously all that was forgotten by the time they got to the World Cup. They had a wonderful World Cup, with Mbappe the star obviously, and they could have easily won the tournament too – it’s always a little unlucky when you lose on penalties – at least that’s what the loser can say anyway! This should be a high quality game, and it will be interesting to see what way both sides line up. France were definitely under-par in the Nations League, and one wonders how motivated for qualifying their squad will be.
I would suggest their motivation will be high for this fixture, but they will likely just have to go through the motions for the other games. This Netherlands side has been very exciting in recent times. They have done well in the Nations League and qualifying. They played well at the World Cup too, only missing out to Argentina through penalties – much like France, a cruel way to lose. This French side is obviously packed with talent, but I didn’t expect to see them trading odds on at 1.89. I felt we’d see them as clear favourites, but not that short. Netherlands have a lot of star quality too, and they are a side who are full of goals. They were set up a little negatively at the World Cup, but they did defend well. The issue for the Netherlands sometimes is that they are too open, but that makes them entertaining to watch. Over 2.5 goals is also a very tempting bet at 2.09 here, but I feel we’re getting a lot of value laying France at 1.89 here. I expect a closer game than those odds suggest.
The Ultra Says:
Two points lay (liability) France to beat Netherlands at 1.89 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/FraNet
SWEDEN V BELGIUM
7.45pm We move over to Group F to finish Friday evening as Sweden host Belgium. There’s very little doubt Belgium will top this Group, and then we’ll have a battle between Austria and Sweden for second. Azerbaijan and Estonia will make up the Group, but they won’t be a factor. This should be a top quality Group actually because Sweden and Austria are very well capable to upset Belgium over 90 minutes, but they should still top the Group. Belgium are different gravy in qualifying competitions and then seem to fluff their lines when they get to major tournaments. As I said heading into the World Cup, they’ll very likely never have such a strong squad again and what a disappointment to exit at the Group stage. Germany was a big shock because their Group was probably lower quality than Belgium, but then again Belgium were more fancied to actually win the tournament. In fairness to Belgium, they were very unlucky against Croatia in their final game. It finished 0-0, they only conceded an xG of 0.69 and created 3.22. It was just one of those days. Lukaku probably put in his worst ever performance in front of goal in a Belgium shirt – he misses countless chances. Despite Belgium being unlucky in that game, they were very average against Canada and Morocco. They had only created xG figures of 0.98 and 1.23 in those games, and conceded an xG of 2.90 against Canada! Perhaps that is a sign that this squad is breaking up a little now – Lukaku isn’t the same force, and Eden Hazard had been on the decline for a while too before retiring.
They still have one of the best players in the world however in Kevin De Bruyne, but he can’t do everything himself. It’s no surprise to see Belgium trading odds against here – they are 2.28 at the time of writing. Sweden have turned into a rock solid side recently. They missed out on the World Cup, but they finished four points behind Spain in qualifying before losing to Poland in the qualifying Final. They actually finished behind Spain in qualifying for Euro 2020 too! They managed a 2-1 win here in the World Cup qualifying against Spain, but they did get relegated from the Nations League which is a major worry. That also puts them under pressure in this competition. I expect Sweden to go into this game to keep things very tight at the back, and as we saw at the World Cup Belgium have struggled to create a lot of chances and then when they do, they struggle to convert them too. I’m going to keep stakes small, because we all know Belgium are good in qualifying games so it might be a different story in front of goal but Under 2.5 goals looks a very nice position at 1.73 in what should be a cagey game.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Under 2.5 goals at 1.73 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/SweBel
