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Romania vs Ukraine

Monday, June 17, 14:00

Monday's action kicks off with Romania vs Ukraine where I expect a ding dong affair.

Romania will head to Germany in a bolshy mood having gone unbeaten in qualification to top their group ahead of Switzerland.

The most eye-catching aspect of their qualification campaign was only conceding five goals in twice as many games, however, the underlying data suggests Eduard Iordanescu's side were fortunate shipping an xGA of 9.3.

This data is not the be all and end all but the fact Romania also outperformed their xG (13.2) to score 16 goals is also noteworthy.

That said, alongside Ukraine and Slovakia in Group E, the Wolves will fancy their chances of reaching the knockout stages for the first time since 2000.

As for Ukraine, Serhiy Rebov has a strong squad at his disposal, littered with European talent throughout. Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko, Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk, Real Madrid's Andriy Lunin and Ruslan Malinovskyi at Genoa.

Ukraine were in direct competition with Italy during qualification, ultimately falling short on their head-to-head record before reaching Germany via the playoffs.

They averaged over a goal a game and with Artem Dovbyk spearheading their attack this summer, should have little trouble finding the net.

The frontman has notched up 24 goals in each of his last two domestic campaigns so looks primed to be their starting frontman here.

Belgium vs Slovakia

Monday, June 17, 17:00

I like the look of Slovakia.

As I write, they are 600599/1 to lift the Henri Delaunay Cup in July which translates to a 0.2% chance. It looks unlikely that they will go all the way but I think they could certainly upset the apple cart in Germany.

Francesco Calzona's side finished second in qualification behind Portugal and ran A Seleção very close over their two games.

Despite going three goals down in Porto, Sokoli gave the Euro 2016 winners a scare scoring twice late on. Then when the sides met in Bratislava, Bruno Fernandes' first half strike was the only thing between them. It is worth noting Slovakia won the xG battle 0.95 - 0.91, so, make of that what you will.

Calzona's Euros campaign is built on a solid defence, Slovakia kept five clean sheets and only conceded eight goals in 10 games in qualification, half of which came against Portugal.

The clash with Belgium will be a stern test. The Red Devils have not lost since Morocco dumped that out of the Qatar World Cup some 15 games ago.

The only blemish over the camp is the absence of Thibaut Courtois. The stopper began sulking after he wasn't made captain for a game last year and hasn't stopped ultimately meaning he'll be watching on from home.

Romelu Lukaku has taken on the armband in his absence and the frontman's price to net on Monday almost tempted me. I just want to see how this Slovakia defence manages on the big stage before I pile back into Lukaku.

Austria vs France

Monday, June 17, 20:00

The Euros is the only trophy that eludes Didier Deschamps as a manager, he won it as the French captain in 2000 but has fallen within a whisker of it as the Les Bleus manager.

In 2016, Portugal beat them in the final and then in 2020 a mad final 10 minutes against Switzerland saw France squander a two goal advantage before crashing out on penalties in the last 16.

In amongst those European heartaches, France lifted the World Cup in 2018 and lost to Argentina in the 2022 final. So, to say their star-studded squad has big tournament experience would be an understatement.

Kylian Mbappe netted a hattrick against Argentina to win the Golden Boot in Qatar. On the world stage he boasts a staggering 12 goals in 14 appearances but a goal in the Euro's eludes him.

His price to score anytime against Austria and break his continental duck appeals but I think it is worth being a little greedier here and siding with him to net the game's first goal as Das Team could prove a tough nut to crack.

Ralf Rangnick has his side playing his swashbuckling style and Belgium are the only side to beat them en route to Germany.

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