It is a big night for the finalists of 1996 when Czechia look to keep their Euro 2024 campaign underway as they go up against Turkey in Group F in Hamburg knowing that they have to win to stage in the tournament.
Anything but a win for Czechia and they go home while Turkey just need to avoid defeat to make it through to the knockout stage and if they do that then they will take on Austria in the round of 16 over the weekend.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the ITV4 channel in the UK with the build-up to the game beginning at 7.15pm as part of the coverage of the other match. Kick off is at 8pm.
Czechia
It was a little hard to know what to make of Czechia heading into the tournament because they came through a qualifying group which lacked a little bit of depth and then they had a key player ruled out of the tournament when he fell off his bike and in the opening game they looked caught between defending and attacking, albeit that was against a Portugal side where a draw would have been a terrific result. Even the defeat wouldn’t have been so bad had they got the better of Georgia in the second game but having failed to do that they are now in the perilous place of having to win.
In a way, that puts them in a better place than their opponents here because they can put all of their attention into winning the match rather than looking at who might be where and doing what elsewhere. If they are going to win this match then it goes without saying that they are going to have to be more ruthless in front of goal because they were so wasteful against Georgia. They are going to be tested at the back and have to remain resolute too.
Turkey
I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy the play of Turkey heading into the tournament and that has been the case so far. They were a great watch against Georgia in the opening one and fully deserved their win but they couldn’t really decide whether to look to contain or go at Portugal in their second one and by the time they got themselves sorted out they were two goals down and the match was gone. They need to work their strategy out much quicker here because they could easily get into a mess and come unstuck.
It could be that Turkey can lose this match by a couple of goals and still go through if Georgia don’t win the other game but they need to forget that and concentrate on getting a result here, not least because if they come second in the group they will take on Austria in the next stage whereas anything else could see them run into England. Turkey have been great going forward in the tournament but need to short something else defensively.
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Team News
The Czech Republic have a huge doubt over their striker Patrik Schick for this match after he left the previous game with injury. He is being given every chance to be fit to feature with Mojmir Chytil waiting if he doesn’t make it.
Turkey will be without their centre-back Adbulkerim Bardakci as he picked up a second yellow card in the tournament in the defeat to Portugal. Arda Guler is expected to return in a much more attack minded Turkey side.
Betting
It is hard to get away from both teams scoring in this match. Turkey have looked good going forward and against a Czech defence which Georgia exposed at will you would imagine they will continue to do that here but at the back they have looked like something of a mess and if Czechia can’t take advantage of that in a game they have to win to stay alive then they don’t deserve to remain at the tournament to be fair.
Turkey will surely be more adventurous in this match than they were able to be against Portugal, if for no other reason than because Czechia are going to have to come out at them at some point and they will be able to feast on the counter but the fact the Czechs have to win will ensure we see them going forward regularly. Both teams have found the net in the last six Czech matches and the state of play here should dictate that both do here as if the Czechs score first Turkey will need to come out and get a goal.
Tips
Back Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 1.78 with Coral
