4 Tips for this Weekend’s Euro 2020 Round of 16 Action – 26/6/21

On Saturday Wales take on Denmark at the Johan Cruyff Arena in what promises to be an entertaining game.

Wales qualified from Group A with four points, having drawn against Switzerland 1-1, before beating Turkey 2-0 via goals from Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Swansea right-back Conor Roberts, but, were beaten by Italy on matchday three via a 39th-minute strike from Matteo Pessina.

Meanwhile, Denmark showed incredible grit and determination, as having lost their first two games in the competition against both Finland and Belgium where they outplayed both sides, they thumped Russia on matchday three in Copenhagen 4-1 thanks to strikes from Mikkel Damsgaard, Yussuf Poulsen, Andreas Christiansen and Joakim Maehle.

With three of Denmark’s last five matches seeing both teams score, as well as two of them being at the Euros, with the other one coming in a 1-1 draw with Germany on 2nd June, their confidence from the Russia game will likely see them come in as slight favourites as well the impressive attacking style the Danes had that saw them muster up 43 shots against Belgium and Finland.

The other game on Saturday sees Austria face a mammoth task against one of the tournament’s early favourites in the shape of Italy.

Italy comfortably topped Group A with three wins from three matches, comfortably despatching both Turkey and Switzerland 3-0, as well as beating Wales 1-0 via a Pessina strike as mentioned above. This means that Italy haven’t conceded a goal in their last 11 matches across all competitions, with Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek being the last to breach the Azzurri’s defence in a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands back in October last year.

Austria earned qualification to the knockout stages of the Euros for the first time in their history from Group C, having beaten North Macedonia 3-1 as well as Ukraine 1-0 on matchday three via a goal from Hoffenheim midfielder Christoph Baumgartner. In between these two matches, Austria were beaten 2-0 at the hands of the Netherlands and there is likely to be a similar outcome when they face the Italians on Saturday.

Roberto Mancini’s side are playing a tough defensive outfit that conceded three times in two group games in Austria, of which two of these came against good opposition in the Netherlands, as David Alaba’s uncharacteristic mistake gave the Dutch an early lead from the penalty spot, meanwhile, prior to Euro 2020, Italy hadn’t scored more than two goals in a game in five of their seven matches in the run-up to this summer’s European Championship.

Sunday’s first European Championship match sees the Netherlands face the Czech Republic in Budapest.

Frank De Boer’s side finished top of Group C, following three wins in three matches having beaten Ukraine 3-2, Austria 2-0 and North Macedonia 3-0, with Memphis Depay and Gini Wijnaldum (2) both getting on the scoresheet in the latter game.

The Czech Republic ended up progressing through to the round of 16 as a third-placed team, following their 1-0 defeat to England at Wembley on Tuesday night, despite earning four points in their opening two matches, following Patrick Schick’s sensational brace in their 2-0 victory against Scotland at Hampden Park, as well as their 1-1 draw with Croatia in Glasgow on matchday two.

The player we are focussing on in this match is Depay of the Netherlands. The recently announced Barcelona signing scored a goal in each of his sides’ last two group stage matches, meaning that the 27-year-old has found the back of the net seven times in his last six international appearances.

The final game on this list of tips sees a mouth-watering tie take place in Seville on Sunday night, as Belgium take on Portugal with little to separate the two sides in terms of quality.

The Red Devils brushed aside all that came before them in Group B, earning nine points from a possible of nine, beating Russia 3-0, Denmark 2-1 and Finland 2-0 despite frequently rotating their starting line-up.

Portugal who are the current holders of this competition narrowly scraped through on matchday three in Group F, following their 2-2 draw with France that saw Cristiano Ronaldo equal Iran’s Ali Daei as the all-time top international goalscorer with 109 to his name. Prior to this they were beaten 4-2 by Germany and beat Hungary 3-0 on matchday one via three goals in the final 6 minutes of the games from Raphael Guerriero and a brace from Ronaldo.

The two players that we are focussing on in this match are Romelu Lukaku and Ronaldo. Inter Milan striker Lukaku has scored three goals so far in the Euros, with two of them coming against Russia on matchday one, as well as finding the back of the net against Finland. The 28-year-old has a sensational goalscoring record for his national side, scoring 63 goals in 96 matches.

Ronaldo’s record speaks for itself, as he has scored two braces so far in this tournament, as well as the opening goal in Portugal’s 4-2 defeat to Germany, meaning that he is now four goals off the all-time record for the most goals scored in a single European Championship, a record which is currently held by Michel Platini, who achieved this feat back in 1984 with France.