SwedenEuroThe first of Friday's European Championship matches comes from Group E where Sweden take on the surprise early pace setters Slovakia in Saint Petersburg.

 

 

 

Group E Betting Update

 

The opening round of matches in this group saw Slovakia beat Poland 2-1 and the game between Spain and Sweden finished without a goal. In terms of the betting to top this group Spain remain the favourites at around 4/10 with Sweden 9/2, Slovakia are trading at around 5/1 and Poland are 20/1.

 

To qualify for the knockout rounds, either in the top 2 or as a best third place finisher Sweden and Slovakia are both 1 / 4 and Poland are 11/4.

 

Sweden

 

Sweden's opening match came against Spain in Sevilla, on paper the toughest task this group can throw up. The game finished without a goal and Sweden, despite having just 15% of the possession will be delighted with the outcome. With what little of the ball they did have in Spain's half Sweden hit the post and also missed a great chance to grab a goal but as the stats suggest it was generally backs to the wall stuff.

 

Victory here might well prove enough to put Sweden into the last 16 and they would also be in with a chance of topping the group going into their final group match with Poland.

 

In the outright betting to win the tournament Sweden can be backed at around 66/1

 

Slovakia

 

Slovakia were trading at around 4/1 for their opening match against Poland at this venue and before the tournament started you could have got around 16/1 about them winning this group.

 

An own goal from the Poles keeper following some enterprising play from Robert Mak gave Slovakia a half time lead but Poland levelled things up soon after the restart. Poland were reduced to 10 men just after the hour and Slovakia made them pay when Milan Skriniar scored what proved to be the winner.

 

Slovakia came through the play offs to reach these finals but another win here would seal a last 16 place, a draw would probably be good enough but given they face Spain in their final group match there is still work to be done.

 

In the outright betting to win the tournament Slovakia can be backed at around 150/1.

 

 

The Betting

 

Sweden are trading at around 17/20 to win the game with the draw at 23/10 and Slovakia can be backed at around 36/10

 

A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 27/20 and it's 11/10 for both teams to score.

 

Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change

 

The Verdict:

 

I must admit I fancied Poland to beat Slovakia first up and whilst the Slovakian cause was certainly helped by the red card, I was well wide of the mark. Whether Slovakia can follow up here is another matter but they remain in Saint Petersburg which is a plus.

 

I'll shy away from the match result and look for a goalscorer.

 

We should see a very different approach from this Sweden side for a match they are favourites to win and although their defensive qualities were evident against Spain there was also much to admire about the display of young striker Alexander Isak who looked a real handful. Isak gets my vote to get on the scoresheet “anytime” here.

 

Bets: Anytime goalscorer Alexander Isak at 37/20

 

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Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change

 

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