Euro 2016: Day Six

Morning all,

Day six of Euro 2016 sees us move on to match day two of the group stages and we kick off the day with Russia v Slovakia. At this point in time, the Russians are still in the tournament, but any further fan violence and they may well find themselves kicked out after the disgusting scenes in Marseille. Reports from scuffles in Lille have already filtered through, but let's not speculate on the goings-on outside the ground. Let's concentrate on the pitch. The Russians were rather lucky in my opinion to get a point from the England game, having been on the back foot for a large part of it. They struggled going forward and their shooting was wayward when they did manage to get attempts on goal.

Slovakia on the other hand were perhaps unlucky not to get something from the game against Wales. They played well, controlled possession for large parts of the match and out-shot their opponents. The trouble though is that they struggled to find the target, with only three of their thirteen efforts being aimed at the actual goal. That said, I think Slovakia are worth a go to win here. They need to win to have any chance of progression and they do have the players to do it. If they're a bit more accurate, they're more than capable of beating the Russians.

We go back to group A for the remaining to fixtures and I cannot get excited at all about Romania v Switzerland. The Swiss made hard work of beating Albania, even with ten men, while the Romanians managed to frustrate France for large parts of the match before eventually succumbing to Dimiti Payet's wonder goal. These two teams haven't met in a meaningful international game since the 1994 World Cup when Roy Hodgson's Swiss put four past Romania and Ion Vladiou was sent off three minutes after entering the fray. I don't see a repeat of those scenes. Switzerland don't need to win, having already secured three points against Albania, while the Romanians may be content with a draw in the hope that they can beat Albania in the final game. Having said that, the Swiss could completely secure qualification if they manage to win this game. On that notion, I'm going to speculate that the Swiss get the job done. If you like you can add in the U2.5 goals as well @ 17/5

The final game sees the hosts looking to secure their next round spot against Albania. France will be keen to get on with things. They claimed three points late on in the opener, but the win will have lifted the early pressure a bit. Sure there'll still be expectations, but I fully expect the French to live up to it in the game. Albania are missing their best player and captain through suspension and that won't help them. Problem is, there's not going to be much value on a French win, so I'm going to take a different approach. I'm having a punt on 3-0 as the final score score @ 7/1 and Griezmann to score at least two of those @ 7/1 as well.

Bets:
Russia v Slovakia
Slovakia to win @ 13/5

Romania v Switzerland
Switzerland to win @ 31/20
Switzerland to win & U2.5 goals @ 17/5

France v Albania
3-0 correct score @ 7/1
Griezmann two or more goals @ 7/1