Euro 2020 winner odds: England ahead of Italy as semi-finals loom
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England have been shortened from 2/1 to 6/4 favourites in the Euro 2020 winner odds following an impressive victory against Ukraine on Saturday night.
The Three Lions set up a Wembley semi-final against Denmark with a convincing 4-0 victory in Rome where Harry Kane scored twice and headers from Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson wrapped up a comfortable win.
We’re taking a look at their prospects and those of the other three nations in with a chance of winning the European Championship.
England
Gareth Southgate’s side reached their second successive semi-final at a major tournament and are 4/6 favourites to beat the Danes inside 90 minutes on Wednesday night.
Southgate led the Three Lions to the last four at the 2018 World Cup and three years later they have been breaking records left, right and centre having yet to concede in all five matches at the tournament.
The England coach changed to a back three for the 2-0 win against Germany but despite a couple of hairy moments their back line held firm and they were rarely troubled against a limited Ukrainian outfit.
🗣 "Actually I'm more thinking of the players I had to leave out of the 23 and the ones I didn't get on the pitch"
Love this, Gareth ❤️ pic.twitter.com/x4tJmFNZM6
— England (@England) July 4, 2021
Denmark will present a much tougher challenge having recovered from the emotional wreckage of Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest against Finland.
However, Kane is bang in form again having scored twice in his last three games, while Raheem Sterling is the favourite to win the player of the tournament award after another excellent display.
England’s rock-solid defence gets an added layer of protection from holding midfielders Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips, with Southgate having options galore in attack so they will not get a better chance of winning a first tournament since their World Cup triumph in 1966.
Italy
Italy have not quite been as mean in defence as England but they have conceded just twice and are 2/1 to win the tournament for the first time since 1968.
The 2000 and 2012 runners-up won all three group games and scored seven goals without conceding, but their defence was finally breached by Austria in the last 16 before they gave away a soft penalty in a 2-1 victory over Belgium in the quarter-finals.
However, they take on Spain in Tuesday’s semi-final without one of their best players of the tournament, wing-back Leonardo Spinazzolo who ruptured his Achilles with 15 minutes remaining in Munich and was carried off on a stretcher.
Spain
Luis Enrique’s side have done it the hard way in reaching the last four and were not even guaranteed to make it through to the knockout stage when they lined up against Slovakia in their final group game.
However, a 5-0 victory meant they qualified as runners-up but needed an extraordinary 5-3 extra-time victory over Croatia to reach the last eight and then held their nerve against 10-man Switzerland in a penalty shoot-out to secure a semi-final spot for the third time in the last four European Championships.
Spain will need to tighten up at the back if they are to progress, especially in the last quarter of games during which they have conceded three times in their last two matches.
A mix-up between centre-backs Aymeric Laporte and Pau Torres cost them an equaliser against the Swiss and their strikers have been hit and miss. Practising penalties is also advisable for Spain who are 11/4 to repeat their 2008 and 2012 triumphs.
Denmark
The Danes bounced back from losing their first two group games to sit within one match of a first final since they won the European Championship in 1992 and are 9/1 to win the tournament.
A crushing win against Russia ensured they qualified as group runners-up with just three points and a 4-0 victory over Wales was then followed by a deserved 2-1 success against Czech Republic.
Denmark began the tournament in a 4-3-3 shape but the loss of playmaker Eriksen prompted a rethink and a switch to a three-man defence which has worked well with Simon Kjaer at the heart of their backline.
In Thomas Delaney, Pierre-Emile Hojberg, Joakim Maehle and Mikkel Damsgaard they have a combination of solidity and creativity, while Kasper Dolberg has scored three goals in two games since being promoted as the lone striker.
They also beat England at Wembley in the Nations League in October so will be full of confidence ahead of Wednesday’s clash.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
