Teresa Hoy 
Continental competitions of the best European teams are a dish that no football gourmet can refuse. The tournament is especially good for its high level of competition – there are so many contenders for the title that it is possible to predict the winner in advance only by coincidence and luck. But outright fans can try to predict the team that will take first place in their group. If you are planning to place sports bets, go to Melbet promo code Ethiopia.
In this article we will try to analyze the prospects of the participants in Group E – without clear favorites on the scale of the entire tournament, but relatively even. Bookmakers will evaluate the chances for us – we indicate the current odds for winning the quartet.
Belgium – 1.42
The Belgian national team does not at all deserve the title of a team in the first echelon of European football. Its history has certain achievements, but not victories at tournaments: at Euro 1980 the Belgians managed to reach the finals, and in 2018 they jumped above their heads, winning bronze at the World Cup. The star generation at the two previous continental forums provided very solid quarterfinals for their country, but the generally accepted opinion is that the peak has already been passed. The Red Devils are considered only the seventh contender for the trophy with odds of 14.0 – in short, they won’t win.
At first glance, the current form inspires optimism: there are no defeats in the last ten matches, and three draws were achieved in confrontations with such teams as England, Austria and Ireland, which accidentally found its way into their company. Upon closer examination, it turns out that the Belgians did not have truly formidable rivals. They won their qualifying group, only one point ahead of the Austrians, and the Swedes in this cycle were more likely to embarrass themselves than to play.
Belgium, despite the change of generations, is capable of winning this group, because, let’s be honest, the draw turned out to be very favorable. However, do not underestimate your rivals – some of them may have their own plans for first place.
Ukraine – 7.0
One of the largest countries in Europe has surprisingly modest success in football: its team has reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup and Euro only once, and even the fact that a relatively young state was formed only thirty years ago is not a mitigating circumstance. But the only continental quarterfinal happened exactly at the previous forum, and the Ukrainians had perhaps the best lineup in history, despite the absence of a scorer of Andriy Shevchenko’s caliber.
The yellow-blues were completely unlucky in the selection – they had to play with England and Italy. The British demonstrated that they are beyond competition, but the Italians could well turn out to be the third wheel – in the decisive head-to-head match of the last round, the referee did not award a legal penalty against Squadra Azzurra, and the Ukrainians, if they had scored it, would have qualified for the Euro directly. However, a confident game allowed the team to take advantage of the loophole in the form of the Nations League playoffs – having beaten first Bosnia and then Iceland on nerves, Ukraine still achieved the goal.
In the last ten matches, the statistics of the Ukrainians are practically no worse than those of the Belgians: the only defeat is against Italy, plus two draws, for which one cannot be ashamed, with the same Italians and the British. Therefore, it is possible that the bookmakers got too excited, inflating the odds for Belgium’s victory, because Ukraine is simply obliged to fight.
Romania – 7.5
The Romanian national team has existed several times longer than the Ukrainian one, but the historical achievements are the same: the quarterfinals of the 1994 World Cup and the same stage at Euro 2000.
This team missed about half of the major forums, failing to qualify.
In the selection, the Romanians received mediocre opponents, so they managed to win the group without defeat. The gap from second Switzerland was 5 points, and this despite the fact that Romania itself shared points with its rivals four times. These world matches, plus a 1:1 draw against Northern Ireland and a defeat to Colombia in the March freight trains, significantly tarnished the Tricolors’ statistics – it turns out that out of the last ten matches they won only four.
It’s hard to call the Romanians weak, but it looks like their first place will be a big sensation. But they will definitely compete to reach the playoffs, and, taking into account the peculiarities of the regulations, they may well succeed.
Slovakia – 12.0
Slovak football players certainly had a hand in the successes of the united Czechoslovakian national team, when it won Euro 1976 and twice took silver at the World Championships. But without the help of the Czechs, it’s difficult for the Falcons: over thirty years of independence, Slovakia has reached the first stage of the playoffs at continental and world tournaments once, and in the vast majority of cases it was simply not able to qualify.
The last qualification left mixed impressions: on the one hand, the Slovaks are only second, and are behind Portugal by as many as eight points, on the other, the Portuguese qualified without a single misfire, and Slovakia only lost twice to the Pyrenees and only drew once, but with Luxembourg. In the last ten meetings, a loss to the Austrians and a draw with the Norwegians in freight trains are added, but as many as six victories – twice over the Icelanders and one over the Bosnians.
The Slovaks look like a strong team, capable of shaking their nerves, but they will not see first place in the group. But the Falcons can spring a surprise by forcing a serious fight for second position.
Our Forecast
Bookmakers in this group see Belgium as the clear favorite and Slovakia as the underdog. We believe that there is no particular gap between the participants, and would argue the opposite:
the Belgians will definitely not take last place, and the Slovaks are capable of everything except the first position. We cannot dispute the favoritism of the Red Devils, but the final leader may be both Ukraine and Romania.
