Euro 2024 Group B Team Predictions: The Panel's Best Bets And Tips
Euro 2024 Group B Team Best Bets
- The Panel Tip 1: Spain To Win Group B – Evens With SpreadEx
- The Panel Tip 2: Croatia Top-Two Finish In Group B – 8/11 With BoyleSports
- The Panel Tip 3: Dani Olmo Top Spain Goalscorer – 10/1 With BetVictor
- The Panel Tip 4: Albania Lowest Scoring Team At Euro 2024 – 5/1 With BetVictor
Every major tournament has a ‘group of death’ and that honour for Euro 2024 has been bestowed on Group B, which features three experienced campaigners and Albania.
Italy and Spain have won three of the last four European Championships with the Azzurri heading into this tournament as the defending champions.
Croatia have shown they aren’t to be underestimated after placing at the last two editions of the World Cup and although three teams could get out of this section, there’s the potential for at least one to miss out if they take enough points off one another.
Then there’s Albania, the rank outsiders playing in only their second major tournament. No one has bigger odds than the Red and Blacks to win Euro 2024, but they could prove awkward customers.
The Panel have crunched all the data and been through the markets on football betting sites to pick out their best bets for the teams involved in Group B.
Albania
Manager: Sylvinho
Captain: Berat Djimsiti
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The second-lowest ranked team at the Euros, Albania will be viewed as the must-win fixture for the three other teams in Group B.
But they’ve proved stubborn opposition under former Arsenal and Manchester City defender Sylvinho, who has transformed the side since taking charge in 2023.
They topped their group in qualifying, ahead of the Czech Republic and Poland, losing only once to book passage to their second Euros.
Albania’s strength is a well-drilled defence that conceded only four goals in qualifying and they’ll look to sit back and soak up the pressure before trying to hit teams on the counter.
The big issue for the Red and Blacks is goals. They only scored 12 in qualifying and Sylvinho has surprisingly omitted two of his more experienced forwards.
Their total goal line has been set at 1.5, which seems incredibly low until you remember three teams only scored once at Euro 2020, while Albania were one of two sides to score one goal at Euro 2016.
Their group rivals are either strong defensive units or monopolise possession so Albania’s chances could be few and far between.
They are 3/1 on some betting apps to be the lowest-scoring side at these Euros, but The Panel found BetVictor offering 5/1 and like that bit of extra value.
The Panel Tip: Albania Lowest Scoring Team At Euro 2024 – 5/1 With BetVictor
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Croatia
Manager: Zlatko Dalic
Captain: Luka Modric
Euro 2024 Outright Odds: 40/1 – BetMGM
Croatia can surely no longer qualify for the tag of dark horses given how well they’ve performed at recent tournaments, although their best showings have tended to be at World Cups.
They’ve not made it past the quarter-finals in seven attempts at the Euros, bowing out in the round of 16 in the last two editions.
They are still clinging on to some members of the golden era with Luka Modric skippering the side on his international swansong at 38. But some new talent is starting to break through, particularly in defence with the likes of Josko Gvardiol and Josip Stanisic.
Qualifying wasn’t smooth sailing but Zlatko Dalic’s men are a very good tournament side, one that nearly won the Nations League last summer.
Spain pipped them to the title on that occasion, and recent meetings between those two have been close, while Croatia are unbeaten against Italy on the international stage, suggesting they can take points off both teams.
A strong Euros showing from Croatia shouldn’t come as a surprise, and they have enough experience and quality to edge into the top two in Group B.
The Panel Tip: Croatia Top-Two Finish In Group B – 8/11 With BoyleSports
Italy
Manager: Luciano Spalletti
Captain: Gianluigi Donnarumma
Euro 2024 Outright Odds: 16/1 – Coral
Even as the defending champions, expectations for Italy seem pretty low after missing out on the 2022 World Cup and a chaotic build-up.
But the Azzurri tend to thrive in chaos and proving the doubters wrong, so they need to be treated with respect from a betting stand point.
Luciano Spalletti has had less than a year in charge since succeeding Roberto Mancini, who walked out last August, and we’ve yet to see what the two-time European champions are all about under the ex-Napoli boss.
They just snuck through in qualifying, denying Ukraine automatic qualification in controversial circumstances as they finished runners-up to England in their group.
Italy’s biggest problem, scoring goals, is nothing new and it’s one they managed to successfully overcome at the last Euros.
Spalletti doesn’t seem to have a first-choice number nine, although Gianluca Scamacca’s excellent end to the season helps him to stand out from the crowd.
There's a good crop of players from Inter Milan's title-winning team, particularly in midfield, but they've also lost a couple of important defenders to injury and may not be as solid as Italian sides in the past.
There are plenty of questions surrounding Italy and trying to figure out what we will get from them is tricky, prompting The Panel to leave the champs alone.
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Spain
Manager: Luis de la Fuente
Captain: Alvaro Morata
Euro 2024 Outright Odds: 9/1 - Betway
Spain’s recent record at the Euros is pretty good, reaching at least the semi-finals in three of the last four iterations, and they head to Germany in a confident mood.
Winning the Nations League last year legitimised Luis de la Fuente’s reign as head coach after his surprise appointment, while the former Spain Under-21 boss has brought a bit more bite to La Roja’s attack.
Spain has won nine of their 10 competitive games under De la Fuente and boasts some exciting young talent, with their midfield looking particularly strong.
It’s not the Spain vintage on the level that won back-to-back Euros in 2008 and 2012 and they have concerns over their centre backs, but it’s a good enough squad to justify favouritism to win the group.
As to how far they can go, that will depend on finding a solid central defensive partnership and a reliable goalscorer.
Captain and first-choice striker Alvaro Morata had a tough end to the season with Atletico Madrid and has proven unreliable at tournaments, so The Panel are happy to take him on in the Spain topscorer market.
Dani Olmo is an interesting 10/1 shot on betting sites to bag the most goals for Spain. The 26-year-old has had his injury issues and wasn’t prolific for club side RB Leipzig this season.
But his international record is good, scoring four in his last eight appearances for Spain, and he regularly has multiple shots in matches. He has shown he has more of an eye for goal than the majority of Spain's forwards.
The Panel Tip: Spain To Win Group B – Evens With SpreadEx
The Panel Tip: Dani Olmo Top Spain Goalscorer – 10/1 With BetVictor
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