One of the most difficult predictions to make is the Player of the Tournament award, but this also makes it the most profitable because often winners are a high price. Mark Walker reviews his selection of contenders.
The award was only presented for the first time in Euro 96 and it’s gone to a player from a winning country every time except once – the last tournament when Portugal won it.
Despite losing the Final, France’s Antoine Griezmann won the award – much to the chagrin of Cristiano Ronaldo, although he was injured in the final.
Previous winners have been Matthias Sammer (Germany), Zinedine Zidane (France), Theodoros Zagorakis (Greece), Xavi and Andres Iniesta (both Spain) before Griezmann, who, to be fair, was top scorer at Euro 2016.
So the vast majority of times you need to pick the winner and the best player in that team. As shown above, often they are midfielders – five of the six have been.
Who are the contenders and how the bookies view it?
The favourite is Kylian Mbappe, which is a safe call because he is almost certainly going to be the stand-out player in the French team and France are favourites to win it. He’s 10/1 with BetVictor.
Assuming Kevin De Bruyne regains his fitness after his Champions League Final collision, he’s fancied to catch the eye too, especially with FIFA Ranked No.1 nation Belgium. BetVictor have him at 14/1.
England superstar Harry Kane will surely top their goalscoring charts and it’s really just a case of how far Gareth Southgate’s side can go in the tournament. The 16/1 with the same firm will attract plenty of interest, especially from English patriots.
Last year’s winner Griezmann is 20/1 with bet365 and old warhorse Ronaldo is the same price with the same firm for the holders. But there’s plenty to look at under the bookies’ radar.
Italy head into this tournament on a long unbeaten run and have not been given the respect they deserve by the layers.
Of interest for the Azzurri are outstanding goalscorer Ciro Immobile at 50/1 across the board.
And Marco Verratti at 60/1 with Unibet could give punters a run for their money. The PSG battler does a terrific job in the Italian engine room.
And if sentiment gets your vote, how about Germany stalwart Thomas Muller? He’s just passed the 100 cap barier after his return from the international wilderness and in Joachim Low’s last tournament could be a real threat. Despite being around forever, he’s only 31. He’s a huge 100/1 with Paddy Power.
Robert Lewandowski is 66/1 with BetVictor, but that’s very dependant on Poland going far and him battering a few goals in, particularly in their opening match against Slovakia.
Player of the Tournament Tip
- Ciro Immobile to be Player of the Tournament 50/1 bet365, BetVictor, Paddy Power.
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