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Group D in Euro 2016 features the reigning European Champions Spain, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Turkey.
Spain, the winners of Euro 2012, will start their 2016 campaign on June 13th against the Czech Republic in Toulouse at the Stadium Municipal. Spain are currently favourites to win Group D, and will be strongly fancied by both tipsters and fans alike to go well due to their previous history in the competition. Spain qualified for Euro 2016 by winning qualification Group C, which contained Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Luxembourg and Macedonia. Spain won nine out of their ten games during qualification, losing once to Slovakia, scoring 23 goals and conceding only three, two of which came against Slovakia.
Croatia are the second-favourites to win Group D. They start their Euro 2016 campaign against Turkey on June 12th in Paris at the Parc des Princes. Croatia qualified for Euro 2016 by finishing in second place in qualifying Group H, behind group winners Italy. As well as Italy, Croatia had to get past Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Malta to qualify for Euro 2016. Croatia won six games, drew three and lost only once, which was to Norway. Croatia conceded only five goals in ten games, while scoring 20 goals. They were also deducted one point due to racist behaviour in their match against Italy. However, this deduction did not affect the overall outcome of Group H.
The Czech Republic are seen as an outside change of winning Group D. They start their Euro 2016 campaign against group favourites Spain at the Stadium Municipal in Toulouse on June 13th. The Czech Republic qualified directly for Euro 2016 by winning qualifying Group A, which contained Iceland, Turkey, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Latvia. The Czechs won seven out of their ten games in Group A, drawing one and losing two, to Turkey and Iceland. They scored 19 goals and conceded 14, and it’s worth noting only one of their qualification games ended under 2.5 goals.
The other country seen as outsiders for Group D is Turkey. Their first game of their Euro 2016 tournament is against Croatia on June 12 at Paris’ Parc des Princes. Turkey qualified for Euro 2016 by finishing the best of third-placed teams, after they finished third in Group A, which was won by the Czech Republic. Like the Czech side, Turkey only lost two games during qualification, but drew three. Their defeats came at the hands of the Czech Republic and Iceland. Turkey scored 14 goals and conceded nine during qualification.
Group D Winners Betting Odds:
Spain: 1.67, 4/6, -150
Croatia: 4.00, 3/1, +300
Czech Republic: 10.00 , 9/1, +900
Turkey: 10.00, 9/1, +900
Group D Winners Betting Tips:
It’s not exactly a novel idea here, but Spain tick all the boxes here. Yes, they’re odds on to win Group D, but there’s a reason for that: they have class running right through their team. Plus, they only conceded three goals in ten games during qualifying. Was it a tough group? Well, not really, but still, averaging 0.3 goals conceded per game is a bit mental. Averaging 2.3 goals scored per game is also not a bad rate, either.
But who is going to pose a threat to Spain in Group D? Well, the Czechs ship far too many goals against a free-scoring team like Spain to pose a threat. Turkey are far more formidable at home, and their draw with bottom-placed Latvia away sums up their inconsistencies outside of Turkey, as well as the fact they only beat Kazakhstan 1-0 away, too. That leaves the Croatians, but like Turkey, Croatia are nowhere near as strong away from home, beating Bulgaria and group whipping boys Malta 1-0 away, while winning the home fixtures 3-0 and 2-0 respectively. So, the long and short of it is, Spain are useful anywhere in Europe, while Croatia and Turkey have relied a lot of their home form.
Yes, Spain to win Group D is odds-on, but I think the price should be a lot shorter.
Group D Qualifiers Betting Odds:
Spain: 1.03, 1/33, -3300
Croatia: 1.36, 4/11, -275
Czech Republic: 1.91, 10/11, -110
Turkey: 1.91, 10/11, -110
Group D Qualifiers Betting Tips:
So, I think it’s safe to say that Spain are the locks to secure one of the qualification spots from Group D, but what country takes the final spot?
Well, looking at the odds, the bookies are favouring Croatia to come out of Group D along with Spain, but there is no real value in that. And when you take into account their away form, Croatia are actually shocking value to qualifying, given that Euro 2016 doesn’t actually take place in Croatia.
The same thinking applies to Turkey here, although their odds are far more appealing than Croatia.
Instead, the value bet here is Czech Republic to qualify from Group D. The Czechs were very great both home and away during qualifying, banging in goals, while also conceding them. Sure, they’ll concede, goals, but as long as they keep scoring they should be fine. Also, don’t worry about Turkey’s 2-0 win over them during qualifying, as the Czechs bossed the game, and were undone by a penalty, and the fact the Czechs had already qualified for Euro 2016 would also have helped.
