NATIONS LEAGUE: The Ultra previews REPUBLIC OF IRELAND v ENGLAND and GERMANY v HUNGARY both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND V ENGLAND
5pm We have a fascinating Saturday at the Nations League on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE! England kick off their campaign in a B Group for the first time after getting relegated in 2022/23, and anything bar a straight bounce back will be a massive disappointment. They begin their campaign against an old bitter rival in the Republic of Ireland, but the gulf in class between the sides these days means there might not be much of a rivalry. There’s a tonne of history between these two; the main talking point is probably the abandoned game in 1995 before Lansdowne Road became the Aviva Stadium. That was a friendly, and England fans started a riot. Although England got relegated from the last Nations League, they are in a great place at the moment – they have gone to back-to-back Euro Finals and now start life with a new (interim) manager with Gareth Southgate stepping down. It will be interesting to see who actually gets the job when they finally pick someone permanent. Ireland start life with a new manager too, it took them a while but they finally appointed Heimir Hallgrimsson – he has a massive task on his hands with a squad that has achieved very little over the last few years.
It’s no surprise to see England come into this game as the odds on favourites. At the time of writing, England are trading 1.53 with Republic of Ireland 7.8 and the draw is 4.4. Ireland have really struggled to create chances and score goals for years now – I don’t see that changing any time soon so the best outcome for Ireland here seems to be a 0-0 draw. They will be reasonably confident that they can pull that off too considering how little England created at Euro 2024. They got an incredibly easy draw, and pulled a lot of games out of the fire too. It will be interesting to see do the players respond to Southgate gone – obviously there were a lot of questions about his system holding this very talented squad back – now we get to see if that is the case. Ireland were very poor in Euro 2024 qualifying, only managing to beat Gibraltar which is hardly an achievement. They made France and Netherlands work hard for their wins here however, and Under 2.5 goals will make a lot of appeal at 1.82 to plenty of punters here. However, I just don’t see Ireland scoring and England do have the talent to run riot. I prefer Both Teams Not To Score at 1.72.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Both Teams Not To Score at 1.72 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/IreEng
GERMANY V HUNGARY
7.45pm We move over to Group A3 to finish Saturday night as Germany host Hungary. These two will know each other very well having faced off in the Nations League last time and then they found themselves in the same Euro 2024 Group as well. Hungary shocked everyone in the last Nations League – they finished ahead of Germany and England got relegated from that Group too. Obviously Germany were going through a lot of changes at the time, and they did put things right with a smooth 2-0 win over Hungary at Euro 2024. Hungary were the first team to miss out on the best placed third-placed sides for the Last 16 which was disappointing given they went into the tournament in a great place. They have an exceptionally difficult Group again here involving Germany and Netherlands – they’ll be aiming to cause a shock again but the reality is they will do well to avoid relegation – their best chance is the relegation playoff spot in my opinion. Germany fans went into Euro 2024 will a lot more expectations than their performance level because they were hosting – that always tends to happen when you’re hosting the tournament – they crashed out at the Quarter-Final stage against Spain, which to be fair had no shame in that.
All eyes will be on how they get on here. The optimism for Euro 2024 came from results in friendlies and then hosting the tournament – for me the jury is still out on their performance level as they have been going through a tricky time in general. They didn’t have to qualify for Euro 2024 so maybe lacked some competitive football to fully judge them. They come into this game as the odds on favourites – Germany are trading 1.31 with Hungary 12.0 and the draw is 6.4 at the time of writing. I have to say even with home advantage I was very surprised to see Germany trading as short as 1.31 – we saw a similar price at Euro 2024 too. I would definitely have them trading bigger here, but obviously they did comfortably beat Hungary at the Euros. I feel Hungary will make this one closer than the odds suggest, and a bet that catches my eye in the handicap market is Hungary +2.5 goals at 1.42. I don’t see Germany beating them easily here, and I’m happy with that position for small stakes.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Hungary +2.5 goals to beat Germany at 1.42 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/GerHng
