The tournament favourites England are the headline attraction in what is potentially an exciting Group C of the Euro 2024 tournament as they go about looking to go one better than they managed in this event three years ago.
England made the final then and beat Denmark in the semi-final. The Danes are back for more in this group with the higher ranked duo being joined by dark horses in Serbia and a Slovenia side who are outsiders coming in.
Teams
Denmark
Previous Best: Winners 1992
How Qualified: Group H Winner
Qualifying Record: P10 W7 D1 L2 F19 A10 GD+9 Pts 22
Tournament Odds: 50/1 General
Denmark famously triumphed when they shouldn’t even have been in the tournament 32 years ago and they will look to emulate that this time around. They finished as semi-finalists three years ago when they had to battle through the emotional trauma of the Christian Eriksen incident. They probably arrive here under the radar because they lack that standout star with Eriksen probably beyond his best now but the likes of Rasmus Hojlund will be looking to show that the latest breed of Danish players can still be a force at this level. Denmark won’t be flashy but they’ll be set up well and with a group they should stroll out of could yet to do damage the longer they are in it.
Squad: Goalkeepers: Mads Hermansen (Leicester), Frederik Rønnow (Union Berlin), Kasper Schmeichel (Anderlecht)
Defenders: Joachim Andersen (Crystal Palace), Alexander Bah (Benfica), Andreas Christensen (Barcelona), Mathias Jørgensen (Brentford), Simon Kjær (AC Milan), Rasmus Kristensen (Roma), Victor Kristiansen (Bologna), Joakim Mæhle (Wolfsburg), Jannik Vestergaard (Leicester)
Midfielders: Jacob Bruun Larsen (Burnley), Thomas Delaney (Anderlecht), Anders Dreyer (Anderlecht), Christian Eriksen (Manchester United), Morten Hjulmand (Sporting CP), Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham), Mathias Jensen (Brentford), Christian Nørgaard (Brentford)
Forwards: Mikkel Damsgaard (Brentford), Kasper Dolberg (Anderlecht), Rasmus Højlund (Manchester United), Andreas Skov Olsen (Club Brugge), Yussuf Poulsen (Leipzig), Jonas Wind (Wolfsburg)
England
Previous Best: Final 2020
How Qualified: Group C Winner
Qualifying Record: P8 W6 D2 L0 F22 A4 GD+18 Pts 20
Tournament Odds: 4/1 General
England go into the tournament as the favourites to go one better than they did three years ago but having failed to win the final on home soil last time around you wonder if they will be able to better that away from home. There is no doubt that in terms of talent levels England should be targeting winning this competition. Gareth Southgate has a raft of attacking options at his disposal but whether he can keep things tight enough at the back with some high profile injuries remains to be seen. Being away from England and the negativity which comes the way of a potentially negative or boring England approach might not be a bad thing. If the defence holds up England have every chance of ending 58 years of hurt.
Squad: Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern München), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Serbia
Previous Best: Final 1960 & 1968 (as Yugoslavia)
How Qualified: Runner Up Group G
Qualifying Record: P8 W4 D2 L2 F15 A9 GD+6 Pts 14
Tournament Odds: 80/1 General
Serbia have qualified for the Euros for the first time in their present guise and after a World Cup campaign which offered up a lot more than it delivered they will be eager to present a better showing here. They certainly have the group to do some damage from because although England are a standout nation in it, Serbia will feel that they can get at their defence with the attacking power that they have at their disposal. The issue they might have is their own defence while I always think that discipline is a problem with Serbia. If they can control both things their campaign should be better than the one they offered up in Qatar.
Squad: Goalkeepers: Vanja Milinković-Savić (Torino), Đorđe Petrović (Chelsea), Predrag Rajković (Mallorca)
Defenders: Srđan Babić (Spartak Moskva), Nikola Milenković (Fiorentina), Filip Mladenović (Panathinaikos), Strahinja Pavlović (Salzburg), Uroš Spajić (Crvena zvezda), Nemanja Stojić (TSC), Miloš Veljković (Werder Bremen)
Midfielders: Veljko Birmančević (Sparta Praha), Mijat Gaćinović (AEK Athens), Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla), Ivan Ilić (Torino), Saša Lukić (Fulham), Nemanja Maksimović (Getafe), Srdjan Mijailović (Crvena zvezda), Sergej Milinković-Savić (Al-Hilal), Lazar Vujadin Samardžić (Udinese)
Forwards: Luka Jović (Milan), Filip Kostić (Juventus), Aleksandar Mitrović (Al-Hilal), Petar Ratkov (Salzburg), Dušan Tadić (Fenerbahçe), Dušan Vlahović (Juventus), Andrija Živković (PAOK)
Slovenia
Previous Best: Group Stage 2000
How Qualfiied: Runner Up Group H
Qualifying Record: P10 W7 D1 L2 F20 A9 GD+11 Pts 22
Tournament Odds: 500/1 General
Slovenia are back at the Euros for the first time in 2024 years and they will be looking to give a good account of themselves. They will be back in a group with Denmark who they encountered in what was an impressive qualifying group, although they only took one point from them which would be a concern. You would have to think that the Slovenians would have to catch someone on a bad day to get any joy out of this group but consistency isn’t a strong point of Serbia so it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. A strong showing and maybe a result to try to finish fourth might be their limit though.
Squad: Goalkeepers: Vid Belec (APOEL), Jan Oblak (Atlético de Madrid), Igor Vekić (Vejle)
Defenders: Jure Balkovec (Alanyaspor), Jaka Bijol (Udinese), Miha Blažič (Lech Poznań), David Brekalo (Orlando City), Vanja Drkušić (Sochi), Erik Janža (Górnik Zabrze), Žan Karničnik (Celje), Jon Gorenc Stanković (Sturm Graz), Petar Stojanović (Sampdoria)
Midfielders: Timi Elšnik (Olimpija Ljubljana), Adam Gnezda Čerin (Panathinaikos), Tomi Horvat (Sturm Graz), Josip Iličić (Maribor), Jasmin Kurtić (Südtirol), Sandi Lovrić (Udinese), Benjamin Verbič (Panathinaikos), Adrian Zeljković (Spartak Trnava), Nino Žugelj (Bodø/Glimt)
Forwards: Žan Celar (Lugano), Jan Mlakar (Pisa), Benjamin Šeško (Leipzig), Andraž Šporar (Panathinaikos), Žan Vipotnik (Bordeaux)
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Group Betting
This looks like one of the more straightforward groups in the competition in terms of the top two because I find it hard to see beyond England and Denmark making it through automatically. England for all their concerns defensively just have way too much attacking talent for the other three in the tournament and if they need to outscore teams they will be able to whereas the Danes will be organised and have the experience to ensure they come second.
If Serbia were a little more consistent then maybe they would come into my thinking but they are hot headed and I can’t get their poor Qatar campaign out of my head. Slovenia have nothing to lose and do at least arrive with a top level stopper in Jan Oblak and a forward that Premier League clubs are eyeing up in Benjamin Sesko but overall I don’t see either troubling the main two. It is 2/1 that England lead Denmark home and that looks good to me.
Team Betting
There isn’t a great deal that I like among the teams in this group, largely because I’m not convinced that three teams come out of it and at the same time I have got Denmark covered in one or two betting markets and also England are so well fancied that a lot of their lines are quite high but while I’m not as certain that they’ll go well as I would like to be as an Englishman, I wouldn’t want to take them on completely.
With that in mind, I’ll go with one bet which comes in the form of Rasmus Hojlund to score more than 1.5 goals in the tournament. I felt he really came alive in the second part of the season for Manchester United and he scored freely in qualifying. He will know there is nothing to fear in this English defence and in truth there isn’t much more to worry about in the Serbia or Slovenia back lines either. Assuming Denmark do come out of the group in second the worst case scenario in the round of 16 is a clash with Germany whose own defence isn’t watertight. This line feels perfectly achievable for a bright prospect.
Tips
Back England/Denmark Straight Forecast for a 2/10 stake at 3.00 with Bet365
Back R.Hojlund – Over 1.5 tournament goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Bet365
