This evening sees the final set of matches from the qualification round of games for next summer’s European Championships in France and despite it being such a late stage there is plenty still to play for. Group A sees the biggest possibility for explosive action this Tuesday as the Netherlands v Czech Republic and Turkey v Iceland games see the two home teams capable of taking the playoff spot and both away sides looking for top spot. Elsewhere Italy welcome Norway to the Stadio Olimpico with both sides looking to triumph in Group H and we take a look at all three clashes with online sportsbook Unibet.com to provide our top Euro 2016 picks for Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Netherlands v Czech Republic: 1.40 – 4.50 – 8.50
Although they finished third at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil having lost on penalties to Argentina at the semi final stages before defeating the hosts 3-0 in the third/fourth place playoff this European Championship qualification campaign has not hit these heights for the Dutch side as they come into this decider in fourth place needing to beat the second placed Czechs and hope that group leaders Iceland win in Turkey. Even then the World Cup semi finalists will only make the playoff round and have two more matches to play to book their place in France. However, after two defeats in their last three qualifiers are they capable of winning this match?
They are certainly missing manager Louis van Gaal who left after the World Cup to join Manchester United in the EPL and they have already seen Guus Hiddink leave the role to be replaced by Danny Blind, The former Ajax boss has a lot to do in this match against a side that defeated them 2-1 in the Czech Republic 13 months ago and with them having only defeated the bottom two sides in the group in Kazakhstan and Latvia on home soil, drawing with Turkey and losing to Iceland, while the Czechs have won three of four away matches on their way to automatic qualification in France this will be a tough game.
However, with the away side having already secured their place at the Euros next summer they may not be fully up for this match, especially against a Dutch team that must win, and if the home team can strike early we see them taking all three points. However, there is little value on the home win and with both sides having been involved in a large percentage of high scoring games during this campaign we are backing goals at the Amsterdam ArenA this evening.
Our top Netherlands v Czech Republic tip is back +2.5 goals @ 1.84 in the Unibet Sportsbook!
Turkey v Iceland: 1.50 – 4.00 – 7.00
The home side at the Konya Büyükşehir Stadı this Tuesday evening know that a place in the playoff stage of this qualification campaign is theirs for the taking if they draw or win this match against top of the table Iceland. They will be confident for this match too as their last two games have seen them defeat the Netherlands 3-0 before winning 2-0 away at the Czech Republic last Saturday and, just like the Dutch, they know that if they can get at the Scandinavians early they may be able to get them to fold with their passage to their first ever European Championships already assured at this stage of the campaign.
However, Iceland are certainly no pushovers and are the deserved group leaders having scored the most goals and conceded the fewest in the previous nine matches and with the euphoric feeling going around the national side with their debut at a major competition looming large they will fancy their chances against an up-for-it Turkish side. We expect both teams to give it their all and we feel that this game could go either way, so we’re backing goals to be scored by both the home and away sides.
Back both teams to score in this Turkey v Iceland game at odds of 2.23 at Unibet.
Italy v Norway: 1.85 – 3.55 – 4.50
Just two points separate Italy and Norway as they do battle in the capital city of Rome this Tuesday night so they victor at the home of Roma and Lazio will see themselves assured of top spot in Group H, but with Croatia, who are away at bottom of the group Malta on this final game day, just two points behind the Norwegians with a better head-to-head record it is very possible that the Scandinavian side could find themselves in the playoffs. Do Norway have enough to see off the table topping Italians?
Italy have not been able to put away their opposition on home soil with any style in this campaign with three one goal wins and a draw with Croatia. These four games have only seen them score more than a single goal against Azerbaijan in their opening home match and with Norway having bagged more than one goal on the road on just a single occasion too this game could very well be a cagey match that sees the sides separated by a single goal. We believe that this game could go either way, but we believe that the bookmakers are correct and that the Italians are the more likely side to take something from this match, despite the Norwegians needing all three points, and we’re backing the home win in Rome this Tuesday evening.
Our money is on Italy to defeat Norway at odds of 1.85 with Unibet.com.