The two surprise packages left in Euro 2020 will meet for a place in the semi-final on Saturday afternoon when the Czech Republic take on Denmark in the third of the quarter finals of the competition in Baku.
Both these teams are enjoying good tournaments and will fancy their chances of reaching the final four where either England or Ukraine will be their opponent at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Where to watch
This match will be shown live and in full on the ITV1 channel for us in the UK. The build-up to the action gets started at 4.15pm with the match kicking off at 5pm UK time.
Czech Republic
You would have to suggest that the tournament the Czech Republic have delivered so far has almost been the ideal competition to this point. They came out of the blocks well and picked up the two results they needed to ensure progression in their opening two group matches which allowed them to play their third one at a leisurely pace, ensuring they were fresh to lay down a real challenge to the Dutch in the round of 16.
They didn’t just lay down a decent challenge to them, they outplayed them for long periods and really deserved their victory even allowing for the Netherlands finishing the match with 10 men. The Czechs have shown more quality in attacking areas than they were expected to in this tournament but that hasn’t detracted from a calmness and a clear confidence all over the pitch. Nobody is really talking about them but that might be just the way they like it.
Denmark
We all know what happened with the Danes at the beginning of the competition but they have clearly moved on from that experience and are now using the emotion from it as motivation to attempt to win a second European Championship to add to the one they won in 1992. There is no doubt that Denmark have got better the longer the tournament has gone on and there is an argument that their round of 16 demolition of Wales was the best performance of the knockout stage so far.
Denmark have found the back of the net eight times in their last two matches which is quite some going when they lost their talismanic creator Christian Eriksen in their opening match of the competition. They are a side who give a lot of joy in the way they play because although they don’t give a lot up at the back, they are still prepared to attack with energy and high in numbers. You sense they are nowhere near finished with this tournament yet.
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Team News
The Czech Republic will welcome their captain Vladimir Darida back from the injury which kept him out of the win over the Dutch, while they will be stronger defensively too as Jan Boril has served his suspension and is available.
Denmark are expected to have Yussuf Poulsen back for this match but whether he gets back in given that Kasper Dolberg netted a brace against Wales remains to be seen. Simon Kjaer and Thomas Delaney were doubts earlier in the week but are expected to be available.
Betting
In many ways I don’t really care who wins this as I backed them both outright before a ball was kicked in this tournament so one of them is going to be playing for place money for my on Wednesday evening but I can’t ignore the odds against on Denmark in this match. They just look the better side to me and certainly the ones with the greater firepower in attacking areas in terms of areas the goals can come from.
Denmark play a similar style to the Netherlands with one huge difference – that being that they can actually defend resolutely and that might be the separating factor between the Czechs’ last game and this. If you think back to that game it all changed when Donyell Malen missed when clean through and seconds later the Netherlands were down to 10 men and the game was up. While that shows the fine margins involved in the outcome of football matches, I don’t expect the Danes to make the mistakes the Dutch did and I expect them to claim their place in the semi-final.
Tips
Back Denmark to beat Czech Republic for a 3/10 stake at 2.15 with Betfair
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