Euro 2020 Group B (Belgium / Denmark / Finland / Russia)

Final Prediction:
1. Belgium
2. Russia
3. Denmark (advances)
4. Finland

Belgium should top this group pretty easily. Denmark vs Russia is really a toss up. Russia is more of a complete team all around, but Denmark does have a better defense and has Eriksen (world class player) to get them goals. I believe that Denmark vs Russia will end in a low draw (Maybe 1-1), however due to Russia having a better build up, they will net more goals in against Finland than Denmark will, and that will push Russia up to second place on goal difference. Golovin, Cheryshev, and Dzyuba just link up so well, and really know how to break down inferior defensive teams. Not so confident in Denmark being able to break down Finland and score multiple goals against their tough defense.

 

1.Belgium
2.Denmark
3.Russia
4.Finland

 

Exactly how many goals have Russia been able to score in the WC-22 qualifiers in compare to Denmark, to make you think they will be able to score more goals at the Euro finals ?

 

I mean they scored 6, more than anyone in their group. And common, Denmark has a MUCH EASIER group. Moldova, seriously? One of the weakest teams in Europe. Israel is not that good. Austria is alright but mediocre at best.

Slovenia and Slovakia are much better than Austria and Israel, not even close. Slovenia and Slovakia are like mid-table teams in Europe. I'd say third tier. Both teams have 1-2 world class players.

Yes they did narrowly lose to Slovakia, but Slovakia has a record of surprising teams here and there during qualifiers. Spain also lost 2-1 to them in Euro 2016 qualifying. Slovakia can be strong on their day once in a while especially at home. If this was an actual tournament game that made a big difference of advancing or not, I think Russia would've narrowly won the game.

It is unfair to compare Russia and Denmark's group. Denmark's is 10 times easier from top to bottom, and no team in that group is really a threat to Denmark.

As for Russia's group. Croatia and Russia are the top teams, but Slovakia and Slovenia can surprise, are threats, and are not to be underestimated. Cyprus as well can be tough to beat, and I think Malta is a little underrated. Malta is a weak team but their defense is tough to break down and score against. I know because My Italy team used to be in groups with them in the past, and I don't remember us ever scoring more than 3 goals against Malta in one game, and usually it was less than that.

 

Just a few questions :
What is the biggest defeat Moldova has ever suffered ?

Who have Slovakia managed to beat besides Russia in 2021 ? and who did they face in their last NT games, after they beat Russia and what was the results ?

Did Austria not win promotion from the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B, while Slovakia suffered relegation, also losing at home to Israel (from the Danish WC-22 qualifying group) ?

Did Malta not lose away and only managed a draw against the Faroe Islands who won promotion from their group ?

Do the Danish WC-22 qualifying group not have two UEFA Nations League A teams and no present League D team, unlike the Russian WC-22 qualifying group ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022–23_UEFA_Nations_League#Teams

 

Btw, besides Malta getting beaten at home in the UEFA Nations League by the Faroe Islands, they also finished last in their group behind the Faroe Islands in the Euro-20 qualifiers, so it should be obvious who is the better team there, and Slovenia lost both home and away to Austria in the Euro-20 qualifiers, while Israel and Slovenia seem rather evenly matched. I would agree that Scotland look terrible at the moment, so no surprise that they got heavily beaten by Russia, but at least they beat Cyprus both home and away in the Euro-20 qualifiers and both they and Israel finished above Slovakia in their group in the UEFA Nations League B, which is why Slovakia suffered relegation to group C.

 

Yeah, agree with this. Not so sure Belgium wins so easily either. They'll be travelling back and forth between Russia and Denmark, while Denmark plays all 3 matches in one place.

Denmark v Russia in matchday 3 should have a lot on the line one way or another.

 

Just a few questions :
What is the biggest defeat Moldova has ever suffered ?

I'll give you that, but sometimes biggest defeats can happen. Brazil's biggest defeat was losing 7-1 to Germany in the World Cup.

Who have Slovakia managed to beat besides Russia in 2021 ? and who did they face in their last NT games, after they beat Russia and what was the results ?

No other team, but they only played very few games so far in 2021. The Slovakian team has been pretty consistent over the years and they are capable of surprises at times. Remember Euro 2016 qualifying? They beat Spain at home but dropped points against very inferior teams.

Did Austria not win promotion from the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B, while Slovakia suffered relegation, also losing at home to Israel (from the Danish WC-22 qualifying group) ?

I wouldn't look too much into the Nations League. Unless they are very weak teams, most do not take it too seriously. It is much easier to qualify regularly than via the Nations League. Its kind of like friendlies a little bit, or maybe equivalent to the Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia, League Cup, FA Cup of National Football.

Did Malta not lose away and only managed a draw against the Faroe Islands who won promotion from their group ?

Faroe Islands can be tough to beat as well. In fact I would say Malta and the Faroe Islands are very similar in level, with Faroe Islands maybe a bit better. I mean they beat Greece in Euro 2016 qualification twice and finished higher in other tournament qualifying groups than expected. I never said Malta was really a good team, but they are just tough to break down, and I don't ever recall seeing them get smashed.

Do the Danish WC-22 qualifying group not have two UEFA Nations League A teams and no present League D team, unlike the Russian WC-22 qualifying group ?

Again, you are looking way too much into the Nations League. Just like if I am predicting the Champions League, I would not look too much into tournaments like Copa Del Rey, Coppa Italia, or FA Cup because many teams do not start their strongest squads or take it very seriously.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022–23_UEFA_Nations_League#Teams

 

Again Nations League is like the national team version of Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia, FA Cup, etc. Don't look too much into it. Faroe Islands is better than Malta but Malta is probably superior to Moldova. I'll do a head-to-head comparison for you in the World Cup Qualification Groups:

Denmark-Russia

Scotland <<< Croatia (Not even close)
Austria < Slovakia (Close, but I would slightly give the edge to Slovakia. Slovakia did better in Euro 2016, and neither team has changed that much since then).
Israel << Slovenia (When was the last time Israel ever qualified for a tournament? Don't recall any recent time. Slovenia made 2010 World Cup, and also generally has better players. Slovenia have even surprised a few times during qualification. They also have. a few good players: Oblak, Ilicic, etc).
Faroe Islands < Cyprus (It's close but Cyprus is better by a bit).
Moldova = Malta (both teams are pretty similar and hard to score against, neither are really that good at all)

There you go.

 

I can not take you seriously when you consider a European level C team (Slovakia) better than a level A team (Austria), not to forget that Slovakia even got relegated to level C by finishing behind both Israel and Scotland in their group.

If you go look at both the Elo and the FIFA world rankings that are based on actual results, then it looks like this :

Elo ratings (as of 9. June 2021) :
7. Denmark > 13. Croatia
19. Austria = 20. Russia
24. Scotland = 26. Slovakia
30. Slovenia = 32. Israel
45. Cyprus > 49. Faroe Islands
50. Moldova = 51. Malta
https://www.eloratings.net/UEFA

FIFA World Ranking (as of 27. May 2021):
7. Denmark > 10. Croatia
15. Austria > 19. Slovakia
21. Russia > 25. Scotland
33. Slovenia > 37. Israel
42. Cyprus = 44. Faroe Islands
54. Malta = 55. Moldova

Russia get pretty much all their best players from the Russian league (except for Cheryshev at Valencia, Miranchuk at Atalanta and Aleksandr Golovin at Monaco), and the Russian league is all due respect not among the top-6 leagues of Europe, while almost all the best Austrian players (except for David Alaba at Real Madrid) are from the German Bundesliga that is a level above.

But I will still rate Russia and Austria to be about the same level. Though as I have also written elsewhere, then getting most of your players from the same league is kind of a "weakness" in itself. because even the German Bundesliga, as good as it may be, is not as tactical as the Italian Serie A or as physical and fast paced as the English PL or as individually skilled as the Spanish La Liga. So it's always better to have the right mix of players from the top-4 leagues instead of a lot of the same kind of players from the same league.

For Russia to secure a draw in Denmark they will probably have to pin their hopes on Denmark winning their first two games at home against Finland and Belgium, which then again could happen, but even so, I think the Russian NT will do exactly as their U-21 NT did vs. the Danish U-21's at the 2020-21 UEFA U-21 Euro Finals, high hopes but no chance, even though the Danish U-21's did not need a win in their last game after having beaten France and Iceland before facing Russia.

 

Denmark is the host nation of Group B and the Danish Parliament that, due to the Covid-19 restriction, previously had set the limit of attendance to 15,900 fans being allowed for the Euro matches at Parken stadium in Copenhagen, but it has now been finally confirmed that they have raised the limit to 25,000 before the first game between Denmark and Finland.

Parken stadium will also be hosting Denmarks two other games vs. Belgium and Russia, while Gazprom Arena in Russia will be hosting the Russia vs. Belgium, Russia vs. Finland and also the Belgium vs Finland game at 50% normal capacity, so an estimated limit of around 34,000 fans.

 

Denmark starting 11 (4-2-3-1) :

Kasper Schmeichel, Leicester (vice-captain) - Daniel Wass (Valencia), Simon Kjær, AC Milan (captain), Andreas Christensen (Chelsea), Joakim Mæhle (Atalanta) - Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham), Thomas Delaney (Borussia Dortmund) - Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig), Christian Eriksen (Inter Milan), Martin Braithwaite (Barcelona) - Jonas Wind (FC Copenhagen).

Bench (1st pick) :

GK : Frederik Rønnow (Schalke 04) - LB: Nicolai Boilesen (FC Copenhagen) - CB : Joachim Andersen (Fulham) - RB : Jens Stryger Larsen (Udinese) - CM : Christian Nørgaard (Brentford) - LW : Mikkel Damsgaard (Sampdoria) - RW : Andreas Skov Olsen (Bologna) - CF : Kasper Dolberg (Nice)

2nd Bench :

GK : Jonas Lössl (FC Midtjylland) - CB : Jannik Vestergaard (Southampton) and Mathias "Zanka" Jørgensen (FC Copenhagen) - CM : Mathias Jensen (Brentford) and Anders "AC" Christiansen (Malmö FF) - LB, LM/RW : Robert Skov (Hoffenheim) - CF : Andreas Cornelius (Parma).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_national_football_team#Current_squad

 

Goldman Sachs has Denmark winning the group, but they have Belgium winning the tournament. Their entire model is based on scoring statistics dating back from 1980, but you can only glean so much from stats:

https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/pages/gs-research/euro-2020/report.pdf

Naturally. I wonder how their model would have fared trying to calculate results for the 2016 tournament. I would like to see a report on how well their results compared.

 

Goldman Sachs is probably hyping up Denmark in return for us selling the Dong energy company to them for a nickle.

 

I think you may want to do a bit more research before saying something so ignorant. Slovakia is better than Slovenia and last 2 times they played Israel they drew and lost. Not only that, if you combine the stats of those 2 games, Israel had a decent amount more shots/shots on target, and big chances with slightly more possession. You actually said "not even close" when in fact there is more evidence on the contrary. Austria is slightly better than Israel, but both are better than Slovenia and Slovakia.

Lol "not even close". Not only are you wrong, that comment makes you extra wrong.

 

I would agree that Slovenia and Slovakia have better sides than Israel. Probably on near or even footing with Austria.

Israel are wholly dependent on Zahavi's form. If he's not performing, they are in trouble.

Oblak and Illicic are two of the best players in the world and play for Slovenia. Illicic is a real joy to watch. The best player they have produced since Zahovic. Oblak is arguably the best keeper in the game today.

Slovakia are most known for Skriniar (Inter defender). He's always being linked to moves to City, Barcelona and in particular Liverpool (as a successor to Skrtel). Then there's that lunatic Hamsik who made his name at Napoli, but left for China and now playing in Sweden. Dubravka made a bit of a name for himself with Newcastle and Lobotka has made the step up with a move to Napoli. Kucka has bounced around Series A for a while. They have a decent core group of players. They had a better side a few years back when Hamsik was younger and Skrtel was captain. Weiss and Stoch could terrorize teams. I felt Greece was lucky to beat them out for a place in the 2014 World Cup (this was when Santos was coach). In both matches Greece had played against them, Slovakia should have won, but Santos had that magic touch when it came to making changes midgame and knew how to ride out his luck. He wasn't treated nicely by the Greek FA when he left, but I think many of us Greek fans knew his destiny was to coach Portugal sooner or later.

Austria's league has improved in standing, but only because of RB Salzburg's performances in Europe and eye for talent (Haaland, Sane to name a couple). Sabitzer was an important player for Leipzig, especially last season when they reached the UCL semi-finals. Alaba is one of the very best players in the game. Hard to think of two bigger names in Austria right now, but they would make the cut at any squad in Europe. Alaba would start in any defense.

 

The games you are referring to are in the Nations League and that is not taken very seriously by most teams.

 

1. Belgium
2. Denmark
3. Russia
4. Finland

Pretty confident in this prediction.
Finland will lose all games. Denmark-Belgium will end in a stalemate. Belgium will top the group by goal difference.

 

How did you find that out? You have inside information? According the most every teams starting lineups, sure could have fooled me.

 

It's equivalent to Coppa Italia, FA Cup, League Cup, Copa del Rey, or DPF Pokal for Club Football. Teams kind of go for it but big teams generally not too seriously. Just common knowledge. Some teams might but others not so much. Enough, that you can never really judge a team accurately due to their performance in the Nations League.

 

Denmark v Finland coming up ... Teemu Pukki has been doubtful due to an injury, but it's now confirmed that he is starting in this very first match at a big tournament for Finland. Iceland looked good and did more than well in their debut, but unfortunately Finland have lost their last 3 games in a row and not won a single game in 2021, so obviously facing a vastly more experienced Denmark away from home is going to be a huge challenge for them.

Austria recently got trashed 0-4 at home in the WC-22 qualifiers by Denmark, though just as interestingly Denmark beat England on their home turf in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, the only England home defeat since they lost 1-2 to Spain back in 2018 and Denmark have also only suffered two defeats (both to Belgium) in their last 47 games* in a row.

* 47 games in a row, not including a 0-3 loss to Slovakia in 2018 by a team of futsal and amateur players from the lower levels of Danish football, selected by the Danish FA in fear of being punished by UEFA/FIFA, when all Danish professional players went on strike. Though the game was played on request and demand by UEFA, it would not be fair to pin this result on an NT coach and players who had actually offered to play but were denied by the Danish FA and so had no part in this game.
https://eu-football.info/_match.php?id=15704

 

My Prediction is 2-0 for Denmark

 

Since ever they thrashed Austria 4-0 I believe in Denmark. A side that will impress in this tournament. They can do what Croatia did in 2018. They have all the ingredients in my opinion.

 

Ok - who's ready for Denmark v Finland?

I expect to be impressed by the Danes.