Where is the best bet for the Player of the Tournament now?

Here we have compiled a list of the main contenders to be named as Euro 2020 player of the tournament following the round of 16 which saw the likes of the Netherlands, France and Portugal all exit the competition at the hands of the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Belgium, whilst the likes of Belgium and Italy progressed with the latter doing so in a 2-1 victory against Austria at Wembley.

At present Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku is the current favourite to be named as the best player of Euro 2020 having so far guided his team to the quarter-finals of the competition against Italy. The 28-year-old Inter Milan striker was instrumental in the Red Devils getting out of Group B relatively comfortably, scoring a brace on matchday one, as well as the second in a 2-0 victory against Finland on matchday three.

Lukaku is likely to be the main challenger to Cristiano Ronaldo’s five goals at the top of the goalscorer charts if Belgium advance further on in the tournament. If the Red Devils beat Italy then they will face either Spain or Switzerland in the semi-finals which would certainly be a good chance for the likes of Lukaku to boost his tally considering how poor Spain were against Croatia defensively, whilst the Swiss would likely struggle to deal with players of Belgium’s calibre if they were to pull off another shock by beating Luis Enrique’s side in the quarter-finals.

Another Belgium player in Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne follows Lukaku closely at 9/1. These odds will be dependant on if the Red Devils can beat Italy in the quarter-finals on Friday night as will Lukaku’s, but what must be said is that 30-year-old has been instrumental to Belgium’s play, having single-handedly won the game for Roberto Martinez’s side against Denmark on matchday two, coming on as a substitute at 1-0 down, before making an assist and scoring a goal in their 2-1 win, before providing Lukaku with an assist against Finland on matchday three.

However, going into their quarter-final match on Friday night against Italy, the Belgians will be sweating over the fitness of their star midfielder having being substituted in their 1-0 win against Portugal due to an ankle injury, with Martinez being quoted as saying he “probably won’t be 100% fit”.

Simon Kjaer has arguably been the defender of the tournament for Denmark having not put a foot wrong in any of the Danes four matches at Euro 2020 so far, despite Kasper Hjulmand’s side keeping just one clean sheet.

The AC Milan centre-back has been deployed as the centrepiece of Denmark’s back five system alongside the likes of Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen, as well as Southampton defender Jannik Vestergaard and has looked solid, averaging 2.3 tackles per game, as well as 0.8 interceptions and two clearances in each of his four appearances. With the Czech Republic next up for Denmark, Kjaer will likely be put even further forward in consideration for the best player at Euro 2020 if his side progress.

The first Italy player to feature on this list comes in the shape of Lazio striker Ciro Immobile. So far, Italy have impressed at Euro 2020 following convincing back-to-back 3-0 victories against Turkey and Switzerland, of which Immobile scored in both, prior to narrow 1-0 and 2-1 wins against Wales on matchday three of Group A, as well as Austria in the round of 16 where Italy were pushed right till the end of extra time.

Immobile scored in Italy’s opening two matches as mentioned above, but, was rotated for Torino striker Andrea Belotti against Wales and was again substituted against Austria by Roberto Mancini having failed to impress bar a speculative effort which clipped the outside of the post. If Immobile is going to win the player of the tournament award then it will depend on how far the Azzurri can progress, as well as the Lazio man getting back in the goalscoring action.

PSG midfielder Marco Verratti is the second Italy player to feature having grown into the tournament due to finding fitness following a knee injury that the 28-year-old was recovering from. Verratti put in a midfield masterclass against Wales which was Xavi-esque, even setting up Matteo Pessina’s goal in their 1-0 win against the Dragons, but he was substituted in the 67th minute of their 2-1 win against Austria, having failed to control the tempo of the game in the second half of that match.

For Verratti to win the best player at Euro 2020 then he will be relying on two things happening, one of which will likely be Italy winning the tournament as he is not a goalscoring midfielder and the other will be three consistent performances from the quarter-finals onwards.

The final player on this list is England winger Raheem Sterling. The Three Lions have a superb chance of reaching the final if they can beat Germany at Wembley as they will have to play either Sweden or Ukraine in the quarter-finals, before facing one of Denmark or the Czech Republic in the semi-finals.

England have not reached the semi-finals of the Euros since 1996 when they last hosted the competition and have not reached a major final since the 1966 World Cup, ironically another tournament where they were home nation. Helping England go far into a competition is usually something that gets a lot of recognition and praise and following Sterling’s two goals in the group stages against Croatia and the Czech Republic which were the Three Lions’ only two goals of the tournament so far, he is arguably England’s player of the tournament and will need to keep up his current rate of goal involvements if Gareth Southgate’s side are to go far.