The penultimate group in Euro 2024 is Group E where four sides will battle it out for the two automatic qualifying spots and potentially a third place into the knockout stages as well in what is seen as the weakest section of the draw.
Belgium are the headline draw in this group and they will be expected to dominate proceedings with Ukraine, Slovakia and Romania the other three teams whose role is likely to be bidding to be the closest challengers to the Belgians.
Teams
Belgium
Previous Best: Final 1980
How Qualified: Group F Winners
Qualifying Record: P8 W6 D2 L0 F22 A4 GD+18 Pts 20
Tournament Odds: 20/1 General
Belgium have probably been to the Euros with better depth of squad in the past but they remain towards the head of the market to get the job done here. If they are to do that then they are going to need to go a whole lot better than they did in the World Cup where they bombed out in the group stage. Key players are getting no younger so Belgium will need the young blood to show that they can extend this golden generation of Belgian football but the coach surprisingly leaving out Thibault Courtois feels like a decision which could come back to haunt them and defensively there are question marks. I doubt Belgium have any problems in the early stages but the longer this event goes on they might get found out somewhere.
Squad: Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg), Thomas Kaminski (Luton), Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Wout Faes (Leicester), Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor), Arthur Theate (Rennes), Jan Vertonghen (Anderlecht)
Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge), Orel Mangala (Lyon), Amadou Onana (Everton), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal), Arthur Vermeeren (Atlético de Madrid), Aster Vranckx (Wolfsburg), Axel Witsel (Atlético de Madrid)
Forwards: Johan Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven), Yannick Carrasco (Al-Shabab), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jérémy Doku (Manchester City), Romelu Lukaku (Roma), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla), Loïs Openda (Leipzig)
Romania
Previous Best: QF 2000
How Qualified: Group I Winner
Qualifying Record: P10 W6 D4 L0 F16 A5 GD+11 Pts 22
Tournament Odds: 250/1 General
Romania are back at the tournament for the first time in eight years and just like then they are here off the back of a qualifying campaign which saw them go unbeaten. We probably shouldn’t judge them too highly on that though because of the five away matches that they had to play, two of them were on neutral grounds so they actually only played in the opposition country three times. Nevertheless, they still had to pick up the results and they were able to do that to make it here. Now they are here they will be looking to come out of the group but whether they have enough goals in them for that would be a concern. If they do then second spot is certainly up for grabs here.
Squad: Goalkeepers: Horațiu Moldovan (Atlético de Madrid), Florin Niță (Gaziantep), Ștefan Târnovanu (FCSB)
Defenders: Nicușor Bancu (Universitatea Craiova), Andrei Burcă (Al-Okhdood), Radu Drăguşin (Tottenham), Vasile Mogoş (CFR Cluj), Ionuț Nedelcearu (Palermo), Bogdan Racovițan (Rakow), Andrei Rațiu (Rayo Vallecano), Adrian Rus (Pafos)
Midfielders: Alexandru Cicâldău (Konyaspor), Ianis Hagi (Alavés), Marius Marin (Pisa), Răzvan Marin (Empoli), Darius Olaru (FCSB), Deian Sorescu (Gaziantep), Nicolae Stanciu (Damac), Adrian Şut (FCSB)
Forwards: Denis Alibec (Muaither), Daniel Bîrligea (CFR Cluj), Florinel Coman (FCSB), Denis Drăguş (Gaziantep), Dennis Man (Parma), Valentin Mihăilă (Parma), George Puşcaş (Bari)
Slovakia
Previous Best: R16 2016
How Qualified: Runners Up Group J
Qualifying Record: P10 W7 D1 L2 F17 A8 GD+9 Pts 22
Tournament Odds: 500/1 General
Slovakia have made it to both of the last two tournaments and got out of the group in 2016 when they were probably at their strongest. They have qualified again, finishing higher in their section than the likes of Iceland and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and now they will be looking to show that they are not just making up the numbers. The big question is whether they have enough goals in them. No forward in the squad has more than seven goals which could put the pressure on Newcastle stopper Martin Dubravka and the defence which is in front of him.
Squad: Goalkeepers: Martin Dúbravka (Newcastle), Henrich Ravas (New England), Marek Rodák (Fulham)
Defenders: Vernon De Marco (Hatta), Norbert Gyömbér (Salernitana), Dávid Hancko (Feyenoord), Sebastián Kóša (Spartak Trnava), Adam Obert (Cagliari), Peter Pekarík (Hertha Berlin), Milan Škriniar (Paris), Denis Vavro (Copenhagen)
Midfielders: László Bénes (Hamburg), Matúš Bero (Bochum), Ondrej Duda (Hellas Verona), Patrik Hrošovský (Genk), Juraj Kucka (Slovan Bratislava), Stanislav Lobotka (Napoli), Tomáš Rigo (Ostrava)
Forwards: Róbert Boženík (Boavista), Dávid Ďuriš (Ascoli), Lukáš Haraslín (Sparta Praha), Leo Sauer (Feyenoord), Ivan Schranz (Slavia Praha), David Strelec (Slovan Bratislava), Tomáš Suslov (Verona), Ľubomír Tupta (Slovan Liberec)
Ukraine
Previous Best: QF 2020
How Qualified: Playoff winner
Qualifying Record: P10 W6 D2 L2 F15 A10 GD+5 Pts 20
Tournament Odds: 100/1 General
Ukraine had to go the long way to get to this tournament, although to be fair to them they were a shocking VAR call away from potentially finishing above Italy in qualifying to make it here by right but eventually they got here, coming from behind to see off both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland in the playoff. They reached the quarter final of this event three years ago and with everything that has happened in their country since then they won’t be short of motivation to try and fare better this time around and bring some joy to the people back home. This is a squad with players who have had good domestic campaigns in big leagues and shouldn’t be written off without a second look.
Squad: Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan (Dynamo Kyiv), Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid), Anatoliy Trubin (Benfica)
Defenders: Valeriy Bondar (Shakhtar Donetsk), Yukhym Konoplia (Shakhtar Donetsk), Mykola Matviyenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Bogdan Mykhaylichenko (Polissya Zhytomyr), Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton), Oleksandr Svatok (Dnipro-1), Maksym Talovierov (LASK), Oleksandr Tymchyk (Dynamo Kyiv), Illia Zabarnyi (Bournemouth), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Volodymyr Brazhko (Dynamo Kyiv), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Genoa), Mykola Shaparenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Taras Stepanenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Georgiy Sudakov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Serhiy Sydorchuk (Westerlo), Viktor Tsygankov (Girona), Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Oleksandr Zubkov (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Forwards: Artem Dovbyk (Girona), Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea), Vladyslav Vanat (Dynamo Kyiv), Roman Yaremchuk (Valencia)
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for Euro2024! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Group Betting
I expect Belgium to come through and win this group but I have to say I’m not extremely cut up on them if I am honest and I wouldn’t be completely surprised to see Ukraine come out on top in it, not least because they meet in the final game and if both are already through Belgium might be the more likely to rest players which could be significant. It isn’t a situation that I want to bet on though so I’ll look at the other end of the group.
That is where I think Romania are being underrated because I have them down as the weaker part of this section. Their qualifying campaign was weakened by the neutrality of a couple of the venues that they played in so I don’t think we can judge them too much on that but when I look through their squad I struggle to see where goals come from. I also don’t think they are as tight at the back as the likes of Ukraine and Slovakia and that combination isn’t a positive one. The 7/4 on the Romanians finishing bottom of the group has to be some value.
Team Betting
Keeping with the Romanian struggling to score theme the 14/1 on them being the lowest scoring team just looks too big too. Just two players in the squad they have brought to Germany have more than seven international goals and one of those, George Puskas, was sent down to Serie B on loan this season and the other, Nicolae Stanciu, has moved to Saudi Arabia so there are question marks over his preparation for this event too. Belgium aren’t the best defensively but they should see so much of the ball against Romania that it doesn’t matter while Slovakia and Ukraine are solid enough at the back. It isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that Romania don’t score, especially if Slovakia are in a situation where parking the bus in that last game gives them the best chance of going through.
Artem Dovbyk has been fancied in the golden boot market for this season having won this award in La Liga this season. I wouldn’t go against that but I do wonder if Ukraine will go deep enough for that to happen. Instead, I would rather take the 5/4 on him scoring two or more goals at the tournament. This is a group where defences are strong but Ukraine are expected to come through it and he is very much going to be their main man in attack and he’ll be on penalties which in a charged VAR tournament could be key. That line looks low to me so I’ll play the over.
Tips
Back Romania to finish bottom of Group E for a 2/10 stake at 2.75 with Bet365
Back Romania Lowest Scoring Team for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with BetVictor
Back A.Dovbyk 2 or more goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Bet365
