Monday Team News Update!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
I don’t like anything today but I will give my thoughts on the two European Championships games so you can see why I’m struggling to tip anything.
For Spain vs Croatia, it depends who scores the first goal. Croatia are good enough to upset the odds but weak enough at the back to collapse. Spain need bad defending to allow clear-cut chances to appear and they may get that here. Aside from that, they don’t create chances easily for all the possession that they have. Croatia will struggle to get back into this game if they make a mistake and fall behind though. I’ve been impressed with their resourcefulness so far in this tournament and their attacking options. I think they can cause the Spanish defence problems too. No bet for me.
I was tempted to give Ireland a +1.5 handicap at 4/5 against Italy but decided not to as I don’t know which Ireland will show up. Will it be the one that gives away easy chances and has no composure for periods of the game? Or will it be the one that is very hard to penetrate and battles for every ball? If it’s the latter then the Italians are in for a very long night in trying to break through whilst if it’s the former then the Irish are in for a long night. I’ve no idea which one will show up, to be honest. Trapattoni knows the Italian squad well so the Irish do have a lot of insight here. If they set themselves up correctly then they can nick a draw in this game. If they don’t, Italy should do enough to win the game. No bet for me though.
Team news
European Championships:
Italy – Barzagli returns.