England will finish off their preparations for Euro 2020 by facing Romania in Middlesbrough and a professional win is expected. The Three Lions are on a run of five straight victories, with only one goal conceded, whereas their opponents have lost four in a row.
Scotland have had an encouraging build-up to Euro 2020 and will be keen to maintain the momentum when facing Luxembourg. Their opponents have shown some improvement in recent years but have lost friendlies to Liechtenstein, Austria, Qatar and Norway over the past 10 months.
Wales can be forgiven for a 3-0 loss to France in their first Euro 2020 warm-up match after going down to 10 men with just 25 minutes gone. Robert Page will now be determined to claim a morale-boosting victory over Albania, who are 49 places below them in the FIFA rankings.
Portugal have played some lovely football at U21 Euro 2021 but Germany get the nod for final glory on their pedigree in this tournament. They lifted this trophy for the second time in 2017 and were runners-up two years ago, whereas Esperancas are chasing a maiden triumph.
Any debate about which nation will win the European Championship will naturally centre around the relative strengths and weaknesses of each squad and their key players. However, an often-overlooked factor is the Euro 2020 draw itself.
Italy have built up a lot of momentum heading into Euro 2020 and will no doubt want to maintain that by beating Czech Republic in Bologna. Their opponents have also qualified for this summer’s spectacular but an inconsistent run of results has tempered expectations.
Spain made harder work of getting past Croatia at U21 Euro 2021 than they should have done but still get the nod to see off Portugal in the semi-finals. Their opponents made it past Italy in an absolute thriller and must be respected, but can be tactically naive at times.
Netherlands and Germany drew at MOL Arena Sosto during the group stage of U21 Euro 2021 and another close encounter looks on the cards when they reoppose there in the semis. Both teams had to battle through tight quarter-final tussles.
Belgium are expected to be one of the major players at Euro 2020 and can warm up for that tournament by seeing off Greece in Brussels. Their opponents failed to qualify for this summer’s big event but they do tend to be well drilled and defensively sound.
Northern Ireland enjoyed a good win over Malta on Sunday and are now fancied to hold their own versus Ukraine in Dnipro. Andriy Shevchenko’s side are preparing for the delayed Euro 2020 finals but do not appear to put too much store in friendly results.
Brazil have been cut to 5/4 in bwin’s Copa America winner odds after stepping in to stage this summer’s event at short notice. Original co-hosts Argentina had to be dropped due to a rapid rise in coronavirus infections while Colombia were earlier removed as a result of political unrest.
England are favourites to beat Austria in Wednesday’s Euro 2020 warm-up match but may be worth taking on in Middlesbrough. A large number of Gareth Southgate’s squad were involved in the Champions League final between Chelsea and Man City and Man Utd’s Europa League decider.
Netherlands have established themselves as one of the contenders for Euro 2020 glory and can see off Scotland in Wednesday’s warm-up match. The Scots have played with great spirit under Steve Clarke to also reach this summer’s big event but they do have limitations.
France warmed up for their World Cup triumph with some professional displays and Didier Deschamps is expected to target a similar preparation for Euro 2020. Wales will also be involved in this summer’s big tournament but are rated a level below Les Bleus on all known form.