Under 21 EURO Betting 2017 Football Winner Odds & Predictions

Azzurri strength to land youth title

Football Betting

After the massive achievement by the U20 side in winning the World Cup recently, can England’s U21 side follow up with success at the Under 21 European Championships? The action starts on June 16th and runs through to June 30th with twelve nations competing out in Poland for the title.

This is the 24th edition of the tournament and it is Sweden who are the reigning champions, after beating Portugal on penalties in the 2015 final. They are back for a title defence. As well as enjoying the moment of success by winning the event, the Under 21 Euro’s do also serve a bigger purpose.

The tournament is a qualifier for the Summer Olympics too, so there is a lot to play for in this one. Of the twelve nations taking part this year, seven of them have won the tournament before, so this is going to be a competitive tournament. The first stage of the competition is three groups of four nations. Only the top side from each group goes through then they will be joined the best of the three second-placed teams in the semi-finals. So it is a short tournament and little chance to recover from having a bad day at the office.

Opening night is on June 16th and England will be in action in the opening fixture as they take on the reigning champions Sweden. So England get a tough start in their group before going to meet Slovakia and then hosts Poland. England’s Young Lions are a quote of 10/1 at Bet365 to get the title in their hands for the first time since 1984. Can they ride the wave of positivity that was laid down by the U20 side and make this a fantastic summer for England’s youthful generation of footballers?

Under 21 EURO Betting 2017 Odds

Team Betting Odds
Spain 3/1
Germany 10/3
Portugal 6/1
Italy 11/2
England 10/1
Poland 16/1
Sweden 16/1
Denmark 20/1
Serbia 25/1
Czech Republic 25/1
Slovakia 25/1
Macedonia 50/1

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Under 21 EURO Betting Preview

Under 21 Euro 2017 Infographic

Under 21 Euro Seedings (based in order of coefficient ranking)
Hosts/Pot 1: Poland, Germany, Portugal
Pot 2: England, Spain, Denmark
Pot 3: Italy, Sweden, Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Macedonia

Spain and Germany are the clear front runners for Under 21 EURO Betting, even though Spain wasn’t at the 2015 edition and Germany only managed to finish in fourth place two years ago. But these are the two European nations with a big heart towards developing youth players, the likes of which have come through the ranks time and time again to make the senior squads. Spain can boast quality in the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielders Denis Suarez and Marco Asensio, while AC Milan’s Gerard Deulofeu is in the squad as their most experienced (and most prolific scorer) player, while Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin is in the squad as well.

So the Spaniards aren’t short of quality anywhere and Germany have the likes of Yannick Gerhardt, Jonathan Tah, Max Meyer, Serge Gnabry and captain Maximilian Arnold who have all been capped at senior level. So we will be getting a look as some of the top young talents from across the tournament and England, who are coached by Aidy Boothroyd will be calling on the likes of Jordan Pickford, Calum Chambers, James Ward-Prowse, Nathan Redmond, Jack Grealish and Demarai Gray to carry the can for them. So England are carrying a squad which has players who have seen Premier League and senior international time.

There are more players at the Under 21 Euros from English leagues than there are from any other country’s league. 36 of the 276 players (13%) who are in the Under 21 Euros squad are playing with English sides. So there will be a lot of familiar names on show. England’s 2015 campaign was a highly forgettable one, going out in the first stage after finishing bottom of a tough group which consisted of Portugal, Sweden and Italy. The only positive from that to be taken is that their lone win in the group did come against Sweden with Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard netting a winner five minutes from time in their second group match.

Spain
The Spaniards have some star names in the squad but they are in a tough group with Portugal and therefore one of them could drop out before the semi-finals. The Spaniards too did have to come through a play-off to get to the tournament. Coach Albert Celades has the ace up his sleeve of Gerard Deulofeu who has netted 16 goals in 32 appearances at this level which is impressive and you can see why he is a favourite in the bet365 top goalscorer market for the tournament. Because they are at risk in the group with Portugal and there probably shouldn’t be anything to split them, the Spaniards may be worth swerving.

Germany
Is there a better nation in the world at developing young talent than Germany? Arguably not and most of the young squad who won this in 2009 featured at the 2014 World Cup for them. That speaks volumes about them. This is a good chance for them to look forward. However, this tournament comes as a bit of bad timing for them because their senior side will be taking on the challenge of the Confederations Cup in Russia and players from the U21 side are there in an experimental squad. That may take a little something away from them and there is no Leroy Sane who is out injured. They have Davie Selke though who had a seven-goal haul in qualification and is 8/1 outright favourite in the top goalscorer market at Bet365 for the tournament.

England
Going into the Under 21 Euro’s 2017, England does have the perceived touches of quality up top to get close to success. In the Top Goalscorer market at Bet365, Nathan Redmond and Tammy Abraham are both 10/1 joint second-favourites while Leicester’s Demarai Gray is at 16/1. However, we would oppose them and suggest that they aren’t carrying the firepower, certainly not without Marcus Rashford. The goalscoring responsibilities will be on Chelsea youngster Tammy Abraham and while he had a good season with Bristol City on loan, the bulk of his league goals were before Christmas. The players with Premier League experience in the squad, could, like the senior squad showed recently, be a bit tired and leggy. They may not be value enough snap their run of three straight Group Stage exits.

Italy
Italy looks a very solid squad and they did go unbeaten in their qualification campaign. They have some great young talent in here, including young AC Milan keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, while there is Serie A experience as well from the likes of Federico Bernardeschi and Roberto Gagliardini, while Juventus defender Daniele Rugani is in there. Throw in the likes of Simone Scuffet, Andrea Conti and Lorenzo Pellegrini, who were all on full duty with Italy in their World Cup 2018 qualifiers on the weekend, the Azzurri have strength. They are the most successful nation in the history of the U21 Euros and you can never count them out, as they will battle and scrap their way through.

Portugal
Portugal, like Italy were unbeaten in qualifying for the Finals and carded eight wins from their ten games. So they are running with big momentum now and after winning Euro 2016 with the senior side, their star man is Bayern Munich’s Renato Sanches, with the 19-year-old never actually having played at this level before. It will probably boil down to them or Spain getting through their group as a winner. Portugal are 7/4 to win Group B, with Spain at 5/6 and the Portuguese, last edition’s losing finalists, can dig it out.

Sweden
They were a big success a couple of years ago, however, most of that bunch of players are knocking around the senior squad now. But what you will have to consider is that it was Sweden who, with their new evolving group of players, finished above Spain in qualification for the Under 21 Euros 2017 and that makes them a threat. Perhaps the overall quality isn’t there for them to get beyond the semi’s but they can get there at least. So even though the Swedes are hovering around the same price as hosts Poland and the Czech Republic, they are decent value at 11/4 with Bet365 to win Group A over England.

Predictions

Sweden to win Group A at Bet365 is big value because, despite changes, they were impressive in qualifying and England may lack the scoring touch in this tournament. Portugal are worth a punt to top Group B as there’s nothing to split them and Spain and the Portuguese are just that little more resilient. Italy can top Germany in Group C because of Die Mannschaft interest in the Confederations Cup and for our money, Italy to win outright at a price of 6/1 with Bet365 looks great value.