Denmark vs England
The first round of fixtures in UEFA Nations League Group A2 saw England struggle to a narrow win in Iceland, while Denmark lost at home to Belgium.
And so next up it’s UEFA Nations League: Denmark vs England at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on Tuesday night. Gareth Southgate will charge his young guns with the task of making it two from two; but Denmark is never an easy place to go.
Talking Points
Denmark’s Euro class
Head coach Kasper Hjulmand, appointed in June, knows his side is in a very tough group, having already met the FIFA ranked world number one team Belgium in their opener.
But there is no shortage of quality in the Denmark side, currently ranked 16th in the world and on the heels of European giants Italy, Netherlands and Germany. Inter Milan’s Christian Eriksen has been the nation’s star over the past decade, picking up 96 caps and scoring 31 goals, an excellent return for an attacking midfielder.
There is representation too from the Bundesliga, La Liga and Premier League. Borussia Dortmund’s Thomas Delaney has won five Danish Superligas with Copenhagen, and as an energetic box-to-box midfielder he has scored five goals in 44 international appearances.
Up front for the Danes, Leipzig’s Yussuf Poulson and Barca’s Martin Braithwaite have seven international goals each, while 21 year old Hoffenheim winger Jacob Bruun Larsen will hope to add to his one cap.
At the back Denmark have two big characters in captain Simon Kjaer and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The 31 year old Milan defender who skippers the Danes has accumulated 96 caps, while Schmeichel, a Premier League winner with Leicester City, is one of the best keepers in Europe.
Under previous head coach Age Hareide, Denmark finished second in their Euro 2020 qualification group, registering four wins and four draws to book their place in next year’s showcase. And they will pose problems for any side…including England.
England
The Three Lions Euro 2016 rematch with Iceland ended in a 1-0 win but Southgate’s men made hard work of it and were lucky to escape with all three points. Iceland missed a stoppage time penalty after Joe Gomez’ clumsy challenge on Albert Gudmundsson gave the referee no option but to point to the spot. Thankfully for England, penalty taker Birkir Bjarnason missed, and that meant Raheem Sterling’s own penalty conversion, just two minutes earlier, won the points.
Southampton striker Danny Ings staked his claim to add to his one international cap having run Jamie Vardy close for the 2020 Premier League Golden Boot, finishing just one goal behind the Leicester forward, on 22, and with the best goals to minutes played ratio with a score every 128 minutes, well ahead of the likes of Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.
To achieve that at a mid table club like the Saints takes some doing and so Southgate gave him 20 minutes in Iceland, replacing debutant Phil Foden. Ings deserves a start but let’s see if the England boss agrees.
The pre-match Denmark vs England betting odds point to an away win, but the Danes have a superb home record so it will be no pushover for the visitors.
History
The Three Lions have had the better of the head to head Denmark vs England results over the past four decades, winning five of the ten meetings while the Danes have won three and there have been two draws.
The last four clashes have all been friendly games, with the honours even at two wins each, the most recent game ending in a 1-0 victory for England back in 2014 when Daniel Sturridge scored a late winner for the Three Lions.
Recent form is good in both cases. Denmark won three and drew one of their four Euro 2021 qualifying games while England won three and lost one of their away fixtures.
And tonight’s defeat against Belgium was Denmark’s first loss in 16 games and the first defeat on home soil in 17.
Betting Tip
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Denmark vs England | Over 2.50 @ 1.89 |
| September 9, 02:45 (GMT+8) |
At odds of 3.88 to win the Danes are a long shot, while England are at 1.77 and the draw is available at 3.50.
But this will be a good test of Gareth Southgate’s young side and here at SBOTOP we expect a close encounter. 2-3 goals is available at odds of 1.80. But England can be free scoring and, equally, every one of their centre backs has a mistake in him.
I think we’ll see more than a couple of goals and a score line of 1-2 at odds of 6.56 could be a good outside bet.
Southgate would take that right now.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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