Portugal and Germany Among the Value
Picks in Euro 2020 Betting
With Euro 2020 on the horizon, punters are gauging where to find good prices in pre-tournament outright
winner markets.
Portugal and Germany both sit in the so-called ‘Group of Death’ with a World Cup-winning France side stacked to the brim with
young talent and upstart Hungary. With that in mind, bookmakers have made them joint-fifth favourites behind England, France, Belgium and Spain to win this
summer’s tournament. But given their pedigree at major events, the narrative sliding away from these two giants could provide excellent value to punters
looking for an outside shot this summer.
Portugal Dark Horses to Repeat
The current
reigning European champions, Portugal stunned everyone in 2016 by downing France in the final, despite losing star man Cristiano Ronaldo to injury in the 25th
minute. Like Germany, they sit a decent 15/2 in the betting on Euro 2020 to win
the tournament.
An argument could be made that this current squad is even stronger than that 2016 side, with a team featuring several attackers from the
Premier League in Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota in addition to Ronaldo and Atletico Madrid’s João Félix. They also look
sturdy at the back, with national icon Pepe joined by two members of Manchester City’s lockdown defence in João Cancelo and Rúben
Dias.
Elsewhere, the inevitable Wolves-Portugal connection also permeates the national team, with Pedro Neto, Nélson Semedo, João Moutinho
and Rúben Neves among those fighting for a starting spot for their opening game against Hungary. Goalkeeper Rui Patrício has been ever-present
for the Seleção in the last decade and started their victory in the inaugural Nations League in 2019.
The ‘golden
generation’ of German football that won a World Cup in 2014 has begun to rotate out, but this is still a team full of ability in all areas of the pitch.
Despite that victory in Brazil, which included a famous 7-1 drubbing of the host
nation in the semi-finals, Germany have not been able to replicate that success in the European Championships, last winning in 1996. Losing finalists in 2008,
they fell at the semi-final stage in both 2012 and 2016 and went out at the group stage in defence of their World Cup in 2018.
With manager Joachim
Löw stepping down after the tournament, this is his last chance to cement his legacy with the national team. Not long after their World Cup humiliation,
he announced that mainstays Mats Hummels, Jérôme Boateng and Thomas Müller would
no longer be considered for the
squad and, as a result, this current German side is a young one and full of pace. Kai Havertz, Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry are all
goal threats behind presumptive starter Timo Werner up front, and with Germany playing their group games at Allianz Arena, they will believe they can make a
deep run despite their tough group.
With 16 teams going through to the knockout rounds from the 24-team field, there’s a chance that all three of
the major players in Group F could progress to the next stage. However, Portugal or Germany escaping the group as a third-placed finisher could put either side
on course for a treacherous potential tie with the Netherlands or Belgium in the round of 16.
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