Five Tips For Wednesday’s Euro 2020 & Norwegian Eliteserien Action – 16/6/21

On Wednesday, matchday two in Group A sees Turkey face Wales at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan. This will be a crucial game in the group, as a win for Turkey would put them in with a decent chance of qualification when they Switzerland on matchday three as they would likely need just one point, whilst Wales will most likely have to win, or face an incredibly tricky test against Italy in their final group game with their fate very much in the balance.

Prior to their defeat against Italy, Turkey had won three of their last four matches, beating Moldova 2-0, Azerbaijan 2-1 and Norway 3-0, whilst Wales will come into this fixture having won just one of their last four games, following their 1-1 draw with Switzerland on matchday one, having also drawn 0-0 with Albania and lost 3-0 to France.

The Dragons sole victory in their last four matches came against the Czech Republic in late March where Manchester United winger Dan James scored the only goal of the game with just nine minutes to go at the Cardiff City Stadium.

When looking at seasonal results, the Betting Hub App states that there is just a 36.6% chance of there being over 2.5 goals, hence why Turkey to win via the suggested Score Group has lower odds than some would expect at 2/1 to happen.

The later kick-off in Group A sees one of the tournament favourites in Italy take on Switzerland, with Roberto Mancini’s side looking to book their place in the round of 16.

The Betting Hub App has calculated that there is just a 30% chance of both teams scoring in this match, as Italy haven’t conceded a goal in any of their last five matches, beating both Bulgaria and Lithuania 2-0, as well as 7-0 and 4-0 hammerings of San Marino and the Czech Republic before their dominant 3-0 victory over Turkey on matchday one, where an own goal by Merih Demiral set the Italians on their way, with strikes by Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne.

It is also calculated that there is a 60% chance of over 2.5 goals, but, what must be noted, is that before Italy’s warm-up games for the Euros, Mancini’s side had won their previous five matches all by 2-0 scorelines against Poland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland and the two games mentioned above.

Italy’s impressive clean sheet run can actually be extended all the way back to October 2020 when they drew 1-1 with the Netherlands in the Nations League, meaning that they have conceded just once in their last 13 matches, with Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek being the last man to breach the Azzurri’s defence.

In Switzerland’s opening match of Group A, they could only manage a 1-1 draw against Wales despite dominating for large periods of the match, as Cardiff City striker Kieffer Moore bagged a 74th-minute equaliser for Robert Page’s side. Switzerland have shown on previous occasions that they can struggle to break down resolute defensive units, having edged to a 1-0 win against Lithuania in March’s World Cup qualifiers, as in that game they scored in the second minute of the match through Xherdan Shaqiri.

The other Euro 2020 game on Wednesday sees Russia take on Finland in matchday two of Group B at 2 pm, in a game that could see Finland guarantee themselves a place in the round of 16 if they are able to pull off another shock result.

This fixture is expected to be a relatively low scoring one, as according to the Betting Hub the chances of over 2.5 goals lie at 40%, as combined, both teams average 2.2 goals per game.

The Betting Hub App’s statistics are backed up by Finland’s last four matches, which have all seen less than two goals scored in them, with the Finns winning just one of them which came last time out against Denmark in the opening game of Group B, as Bayer Leverkusen striker Joel Pohjanpalo scored with the Finns only effort on goal in the entire match. Other results include 1-0 and 2-0 losses against Estonia and Sweden, as well as a 1-1 draw with Ukraine.

On the other hand, Russia are going to have to bounce back from their 3-0 loss to Belgium in their opening match or their chances of advancing to the round of 16 will hang in the balance, due to having a poor goal difference and points tally. Before their defeat to the Red Devils, Russia had won their previous fixture to nil against Bulgaria, thanks to Aleksandr Sobolev’s 84th-minute penalty and will be looking to do the same against a Finland side whose goal came from their only effort of the game against Denmark, via a goalkeeping error by Kasper Schmeichel.

Wednesday sees Norwegian Eliteserien league leaders Bodo/Glimt take on eight placed Stromgodset at Aspmyra Stadion.

The champions come into this game in decent form, winning three matches 2-0 against both Mjondalen and Haugesund, as well as beating Brann 2-1. However, they have also lost 1-0 and drawn 2-2 with Odd and Rosenborg, as Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul’s equaliser condemned to a draw against the latter, having taken a 2-1 lead via strikes from Erik Botheim and Sondre Brunstad Fet.

Stromgodset are in average form, having won two of their last five matches, in 2-1 and 3-1 victories against Rosenborg and Lillestrom, but, they have also lost 1-0 and 3-0 to both Kristiansund and Brann, as well as earning a 1-1 draw at home to Tromso.

Both teams have scored in each of these last two teams three meetings, with Bodo/Glimt winning all three meetings 3-1, 3-2 and 2-1, with the latter being the most recent last November, as two early goals from Kasper Junker and Watford winger Phillip Zinckernagel set Bodo on their way to all three points, with Vladimar Ingimundarson’s 84th-minute goal for the hosts ending up being a late consolation goal.

Third place Molde take on ninth in the league Sarpsborg at Aker Stadium in the Eliteserien, with last season’s runners-up looking to hunt down top of the league Bodo/Glimt, who are just two points ahead of Erling Moe’s side.

Molde have won three of their last five matches, 4-0 against Brann, 3-2 versus Rosenborg and 3-1 away at Sandeford, thanks to a brace from Kristoffer Haugen and a goal by Ohi Omoijuanfo in the latter match mentioned.

Meanwhile, Sarpsborg have won just one of their last five matches, which came against Tromso, as Ibrahima Kone and Jonathan Lindseth both scored in the opening 25 minutes of the match. Other than that win, Sarpsborg have drawn three times against Brann, Odd and Haugesund.

The last two meetings at the Aker Stadium have resulted in Molde wins with over 2.5 goals scored, as they won 2-1 in July 2019 and 5-0 in their last meeting back in December, as Leke James, Mattias Mostrom, Omoijuanfo (2) and Martin Ellingsen all got on the scoresheet, hence why the Betting Hub App has calculated this game at an 80% possibility to have over 2.5 goals in it.