Wednesday’s Top Tips: Italians Out to Avoid Group D Drama

You could be forgiven for thinking that England have nothing at stake in tonight’s Under 21 European Championship clash with Germany but the chance to ensure their old rivals and one of the pre-tournament favourites endure an early exit isn’t one they’ll want to pass up.

Two wins from their opening two games and a five goal advantage leaves the young Lions sitting pretty in Group C and guaranteed to finish top of the table.

By contrast, holders Germans are up against it. A late defeat to Czech Republic means qualification is out of their own hands. Nothing less than a win over England will do, plus they’ll need either an Israeli win over the Czech (but not by more than they beat England).

A lot will depend on coach Lee Carsley’s approach to this one. Germany could take advantage at 8/5 if he opts to utilise his squad. But there’s plenty of strength in depth in the English squad, all of whom will be playing for a place against Portugal in the quarter-finals. With Germany’s hopes looking rather forlorn the 17/10 on England wrapping up the group stages in style looks appealing.

We highlighted Emile Smith Rowe as the danger man for England ahead of the match against Israel and he duly obliged with another goal at 2/1. The Arsenal is an even bigger 10/3 to get on the scoresheet tonight.

Czech Republic know a draw will do them against Israel, thanks to their win over Germany which gives them the head-to-head advantage should they both finish on four points.

That puts a different perspective on the match with regards to the betting. Ordinarily the 5/4 on a Czech win looks decent but in a game they don’t need to win its best left alone.

Things could get very complicated in Group D where three teams could end up with six points. The head-to-head rules would then kick-in but each team would have beaten the other so it could come down to goals scored in those games.

Italy know a win over Norway will just about see them through to the last eight and they look a solid bet at 8/13 in Group D. But they need to hope Switzerland don’t beat France.

A Swiss win would draw them level on points with the French but they’d need to do so by two or more to ensure qualification. Goals should be on the cards and BTTS is 8/13.

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