Switzerland Team Preview – Overview
Switzerland qualified for their first European Championship since 2008 when they finished runners up to England in their group. They only lost one game apart from their two defeats to England in that section but you never really got the feeling watching them at any stage in that campaign that they have improved since the World Cup two years ago.
Vladimir Petkovic’s men will be aiming to break new ground in this tournament having never escaped the group stage in the three previous times they have qualified for the competition. At their best they would be expected to go into the latter stages but there are signs that the star is beginning to wane.
Statistics
Best Performance – Group Stage in 1996, 2004 & 2008
Previous Appearances – 3 (1996, 2004 & 2008)
Qualified – Group E Runner-up
Qualifying Record
P-10 W-7 D-0 L-3 GF-24 GA-8 PTS-21
Fixtures
Albania vs Switzerland – Saturday 11th June, kickoff 14:00 at Stade Felix Bollaert-Delelis, Lens
Romania vs Switzerland – Wednesday 15th June, kickoff 17:00 at Parc des Princes, Paris
Switzerland vs France – Sunday 19th June, kickoff 20:00 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille
Squad
Manager: Vladimir Petković
Goalkeepers : Roman Buerki (Borussia Dortmund), Marwin Hitz (Augsburg), Yann Sommer (Borussia Moenchengladbach).
Defenders: Johan Djourou (Hamburg SV), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Michael Lang (FC Basel), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Francois Moubandje (Toulouse), Ricardo Rodriguez (VfL Wolfsburg), Fabian Schaer (Hoffenheim), Steve Von Bergen (Young Boys)
Midfielders: Valon Behrami (Watford), Blerim Dzemaili (Genoa), Gelson Fernandes (Rennes), Fabian Frei (Mainz 05), Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Denis Zakaria (Young Boys)
Forwards: Eren Derdiyok (Kasimpasa), Breel Embolo (FC Basel), Admir Mehmedi (Bayer Leverkusen), Haris Seferovic (Eintracht Frankfurt), Shani Tarashaj (Grasshoppers)
Betting
There aren’t many markets around on Switzerland in this tournament and of the ones that are there not many appeal to me. I’ve a nagging doubt they finish third in their group but it isn’t enough of a feeling to act on so I’m just going to chance a big priced runner in their top goalscorer market.
Josef Drmic is the main man up front for Switzerland but he has been ruled out of this tournament through injury so that will have a major effect on the number of goals they score. If they flatter to deceive, which I would say is perfectly possible, then we might only need a couple of goals to land a punt in this market.
Xherdan Shaqiri is the favourite. He’s the best player in the squad and the standout name but he doesn’t play right up top which could be an issue and I can’t say I’ve ever brought myself to be a fan of Hans Seferovic. Behind them it is anyone’s.
I’m going to take a chance on the Wolfsburg wing back Ricardo Rodriguez in this market. He is a livewire who bombs forward down the left hand side and is quite accustomed at set pieces which is why I’m chancing him.
Rodriguez is yet to score a goal for his country but he is beginning to score more and more for his club and in a defensive group where star names might get the focus of being covered his marauding runs could get a reward. Failing that he could easily pop in a free kick or a long range effort. At 33/1 I’ll pay to see what he does in a side who have lost their main goalscorer.
Tips
Back R.Rodriguez Top Switzerland Tournament Goalscorer for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Betfred
Back him here:
