Czech Republic v Germany – Eden Stadium at 19:45 live on BT Sport 1
The final round of U21 European Championships group stage gets underway tomorrow with the hosts needing to upset the odds against tournament favourites Germany, to guarantee their progress through to the semi-finals.
However, a draw with the Germans could also be enough to secure the Czech’s second place in Group A, if Serbia manage to beat Denmark in the other match which will be played simultaneously to this one.
Jakub Dovalil’s team come into this crucial match with their confidence sky high after their 4-0 demolition job of Serbia on Saturday. Dovalil was able to welcome back key players Tomas Kalas and Vaclav Kadlec to his starting eleven but it was striker Jan Kliment who stole the glory with just the third ever hat trick at an U21 European Championships.
Later that evening, pre-tournament favourites Germany ruthlessly brushed aside the classy Danes 3-0, in a match which many believed could see the Germans on the brink of early elimination from the tournament.
Horst Hrubesch and his players had other ideas as they proved just why they are as short as 2.50 to win this year’s U21 Championships. Hrubesch wasted no time in changing his team after their poor display in the 1-1 draw with Serbia and his adjustments paid off as Kevin Volland scored the opening two goals.
Looking at the betting markets, it is no surprise to see the bookies running scared from Germany with a price of 1.7 to win in 90 minutes. On the Asian handicap betting line, the hosts have been given a +0.75 handicap which does hold some appeal here.
Even a draw guarantees progress to the knockout rounds for Germany and although it is not in their nature to play for a draw, it could well effect their tactics and substitutions in the final third of the match. They do not need to go searching for a winner, if it means risking defeat.
With that in mind, along with the Czech’s impressive win last time out and value on the hosts in the Asian handicap betting market, we are happy to back the Czech Republic to keep this game close, if not win it.
Asian Handicap Betting Recommendation: Czech Republic +0.75 at 2.01
Denmark v Serbia – Letna Stadium at 19:45 live on BT Sport 2
With the Czech Republic facing Germany at the same time as Denmark take on Serbia, the Danes will be relatively confident that a draw will be enough to see them qualify for the semi-finals due to their superior head to head record over the hosts.
For Mladen Dodic’s Serbia, their progress to the next round is hanging by a thread as even a win against the Danes might not be enough for them to extend their stay in the Czech Republic this summer. Only a German victory over the Czech’s coupled with them beating Denmark will see them reach the semi-finals.
On paper and in terms of form so far in the tournament, Denmark are a far superior side to Serbia and should have no real problems claiming the three points they need to guarantee a semi-final berth.
They were hugely impressive in the second half against the Czech’s in their opening match and if it were not for a crazy few minutes, early in the second half against Germany, that match would have had a closer score line despite the Danes not playing their best football.
Serbia on the other hand have not been good in the tournament so far, despite starting well against the Germans and playing against ten men they were actually quite lucky to pick up a point by the end of the 90 minutes.
It seemed more of an indictment of the German performance, rather than praise for the Serbian one that the opening game ended level and that form was franked in both of the second round group games.
Interestingly the Asian handicap betting markets have been set with just a 0.25 handicap line and when you consider that the Czech’s put four past Serbia just a few days ago, the talented Danish attack looks to have been underestimated by the bookies.
We like the value available on the Danes and are confident that they will prove too strong for Serbia tomorrow, based on that we will take the bigger Asian handicap betting line to cash in on the price.
Asian Handicap Betting Recommendation: Denmark -0.5 at 2.39
Prices correct at the time of writing.
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