Euro 2024

Portugal vs Czechia Euro 2024 Prediction

HINT: Portugal ODDS: 1/2 18 Jun @ 20:00

Portugal take on Czechia (also known as Czech Republic) in the final round of the opening group stage games on Tuesday at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig.

The Euro 2016 winners head into this tournament as the third favourites, understandably with the talent they have in their squad. Portugal also had a perfect record in qualifying with 10 wins from 10, scoring 36 and conceding just twice. However, the opponents were Slovakia, Luxembourg, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Liechtenstein.

Portugal’s goalkeeper is FC Porto’s Diogo Costa these days, but the experienced Rui Patricio is still in the squad. 41-year-old Pepe would be appearing his 5th European Championship should he make an appearance in this tournament. He has been given the number 3 shirt. Manchester City’s Ruben Dias, Barcelona’s Joao Cancelo, Paris Saint-Germain’s Nuno Mendes and Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot are all options in defence. Protecting them could be either of two excellent holding midfielders – Danilo Pereira or Joao Palhinha.

Going forward is where their strength is – Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes in midfield, with Cristiano, Goncalo Ramos, Rafael Leao, Diogo Jota and Joao Felix all options up front. Arguably the most squad depth in the tournament.

The reason I don’t see any value in backing Portugal to win this tournament is because Roberto Martinez is their head coach. And I don’t rate him. Let’s see who’s right in 4 weeks’ time…

Czechia are getting their toughest group stage game out first. Not a bad thing. Some teams would prefer to face them last as they could already be qualified and rest players. Any points in this game will be a bonus before they face Georgia on Saturday.

They finished runners-up to Albania in their qualifying group, taking 15 points from a possible 24 in a group that also contained Poland, Moldova and Faroe Islands. 10 of those points came on home soil too as they were held in Poland and Moldova and thrashed 0-3 in Albania.

It’s quite a young and inexperienced squad with a number of players playing in the Czech First League. West Ham United duo Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek will offer protection in front of the defence, whilst Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Patrik Shick is the excitement in attack. Club and country teammate Adam Hlozek should join him in attack.

Best bet: Portugal to win is 1/2 with Bet365
Value bet: Portugal to win and Both Teams to Score is 9/4 with Bet365