(Christian Eriksen is a star for the Danes but Holland will know plenty about the Ajax Youngster)
5:00 pm - Holland v Denmark
The first game on Saturday is between highly fancied Holland & slightly underrated Denmark, the Danes were pretty watertight in defence in qualifying & could frustrate the Dutch here. Denmark have one of the better central defensive pairings in the entire competition with Simon Kjaer & Liverpool's calm & authoritative Daniel Agger. Kjaer has been one of Europe's brightest defensive talents & talk of moves to the Premier League have persisted from when he was 18 onwards, he was very good for Denmark at the last World Cup before moving from Parma to Wolfsburg where his form & confidence took a hit & he was on loan to Roma last season - he's still utterly dependable for his country though & the solid pairing at the back allows their exciting talents to get forwards confidently.
The Danish defence will need to be good with the lethal Robin Van Persie on the prowl for Holland, he scores for fun but doesn't have as good a goalscoring record for the national team as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who has 3 more goals (31 in total) in 13 fewer games. Robben has 17 goals & Wesley Sneijder has 24 so it shows they certainly don't need to rely on Van Persie & can score goals starting from deeper positions. Our worry with the Dutch is in defence, Stekelenburg is a fine keeper but the central defenders Heitinga & Mathijsen are 5"11 & 6"0 respectively & that lack of height goes right through the team with players like Sneijder & De Jong being diminutive - it's unbelievable for a country with the tallest average height in the world. It isn't just their height that makes the Netherlands suspect defensively, there just isn't a great deal of quality through the back line with Van der Wiel never quite achieving what was expected of him & left back being a weak area in general, Willems, Bouma or Schaars could start there. Holland will say attack is the best form of defence & they always have De Jong & Van Bommel there to sit in front of the back four.
If the Danes are to be successful in this game then they'll want William Kvist to be on top of his game, he'll play as the holding midfielder & has good composure on the ball plus the energy to get around the pitch & be an effective destroyer when Holland get possession, he's the type of player who could adapt excellently to the Premier League. If Kvist performs well then that allows Denmark's midfield maestro Christian Eriksen more time to get on the ball & pick out passes & make little one twos that will set up sole striker Nicklas Bendtner with the chances. Bendtner may be a figure of fun in England (largely down to quotes about believing he could be the best in the world) but he's pretty good for Denmark & gets to play in his correct position as an out & out centre forward with regular service to head & feet & he'll cause some problems for the undersized John Heitinga in the Dutch defence. We don't think that Denmark are better than Holland but the match ups here could be favourable & we're going to advise backing the Danes at 11/2 to expose those Dutch defensive frailties & two Premiership players offer the value for scoring: Nicklas Bendtner is very much the Danish target man & takes the penalties & 10/1 to score first is too big; Daniel Agger takes penalties if Bendtner doesn't plus will get forward for set pieces & is 16/1 to score anytime or 40/1 to score first.
7:45 pm - Germany vs Portugal
The second game of the evening is between our 'outright' pick of Germany vs Portugal at the Arena Lviv. It should be a cracking game with all the attacking talent on the pitch & both sides know that three points here will be vital in such a tough looking Group B.
Germany coach Joachim Low has told the press that he squad has a clean bill of health after injury concerns to captain Phillip Lahm, Sami Khedira & the inspirational midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. On paper the Germans have an excellent starting eleven with a good mix between youngsters coming through but with the experience from the last World Cup behind them, & experienced players & with the likelihood of seven starters coming from Bayern Munich this can only be another positive. They have improved defensively from the last two major tournaments & they will be need to be on top of their game individually & collectively to combat the biggest talent in Europe, & arguably the World, in Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo is likely to start on the left of a top three but will drift more centrally with regularity so you would expect the disciplined Sami Khedira's role to be helping out right back Jermone Boateng & the rest of the backline at all times, he may well end up almost taking up a man-marking role. If Germany do concentrate too much on Ronaldo then full time Michael Jackson impersonator Nani has all the skills & tricks to take apart a side but he still doesn't do it quite often enough.
Portugal don't have a bad defence at all with Bruno Alves & Pepe at the centre & Fabio Coentrao & Joao Pereira have plenty of Champions League experience in the full back positions, goalkeeper isn't such a great position & there isn't a lot between Eduardo or Rui Patricio. The back four are decent but they don't have as much quality in their holding/defensive midfielders as other sides with Miguel Veloso being decent but some way off top class & Moutinho never fully convincing us & Raul Meireles not being renowned for his defensive application. That part of the field, just off the front man, is where Germany are strongest & Mesut Ozil could have a field day here with Schweinsteiger bossing the Portuguese players & gaining possession time & time again. We just Germany getting off to a great start with a win at odds of 6/5 before their big second game against the Netherlands. Mesut Ozil is a tempter for first scorer as we really fancy him to have a good game but Mario Gomez is Germany's main striker & 11/2 looks a little big for a player with a very good scoring record & excellent season behind him (Robin Van Persie is only as big as 4/1 in earlier game).
Selections:
Denmark to beat Holland at 11/2 (various)
Daniel Agger to score first at 40/1 (Stan James) & at anytime at 16/1 (William Hill)
Nicklas Bendtner to score first at 10/1 (Stan James & BetVictor)
The first game on Saturday is between highly fancied Holland & slightly underrated Denmark, the Danes were pretty watertight in defence in qualifying & could frustrate the Dutch here. Denmark have one of the better central defensive pairings in the entire competition with Simon Kjaer & Liverpool's calm & authoritative Daniel Agger. Kjaer has been one of Europe's brightest defensive talents & talk of moves to the Premier League have persisted from when he was 18 onwards, he was very good for Denmark at the last World Cup before moving from Parma to Wolfsburg where his form & confidence took a hit & he was on loan to Roma last season - he's still utterly dependable for his country though & the solid pairing at the back allows their exciting talents to get forwards confidently.
The Danish defence will need to be good with the lethal Robin Van Persie on the prowl for Holland, he scores for fun but doesn't have as good a goalscoring record for the national team as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who has 3 more goals (31 in total) in 13 fewer games. Robben has 17 goals & Wesley Sneijder has 24 so it shows they certainly don't need to rely on Van Persie & can score goals starting from deeper positions. Our worry with the Dutch is in defence, Stekelenburg is a fine keeper but the central defenders Heitinga & Mathijsen are 5"11 & 6"0 respectively & that lack of height goes right through the team with players like Sneijder & De Jong being diminutive - it's unbelievable for a country with the tallest average height in the world. It isn't just their height that makes the Netherlands suspect defensively, there just isn't a great deal of quality through the back line with Van der Wiel never quite achieving what was expected of him & left back being a weak area in general, Willems, Bouma or Schaars could start there. Holland will say attack is the best form of defence & they always have De Jong & Van Bommel there to sit in front of the back four.
If the Danes are to be successful in this game then they'll want William Kvist to be on top of his game, he'll play as the holding midfielder & has good composure on the ball plus the energy to get around the pitch & be an effective destroyer when Holland get possession, he's the type of player who could adapt excellently to the Premier League. If Kvist performs well then that allows Denmark's midfield maestro Christian Eriksen more time to get on the ball & pick out passes & make little one twos that will set up sole striker Nicklas Bendtner with the chances. Bendtner may be a figure of fun in England (largely down to quotes about believing he could be the best in the world) but he's pretty good for Denmark & gets to play in his correct position as an out & out centre forward with regular service to head & feet & he'll cause some problems for the undersized John Heitinga in the Dutch defence. We don't think that Denmark are better than Holland but the match ups here could be favourable & we're going to advise backing the Danes at 11/2 to expose those Dutch defensive frailties & two Premiership players offer the value for scoring: Nicklas Bendtner is very much the Danish target man & takes the penalties & 10/1 to score first is too big; Daniel Agger takes penalties if Bendtner doesn't plus will get forward for set pieces & is 16/1 to score anytime or 40/1 to score first.
(Mesut Ozil could have some fun against Portugal's weak defensive midfielders)
The second game of the evening is between our 'outright' pick of Germany vs Portugal at the Arena Lviv. It should be a cracking game with all the attacking talent on the pitch & both sides know that three points here will be vital in such a tough looking Group B.
Germany coach Joachim Low has told the press that he squad has a clean bill of health after injury concerns to captain Phillip Lahm, Sami Khedira & the inspirational midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. On paper the Germans have an excellent starting eleven with a good mix between youngsters coming through but with the experience from the last World Cup behind them, & experienced players & with the likelihood of seven starters coming from Bayern Munich this can only be another positive. They have improved defensively from the last two major tournaments & they will be need to be on top of their game individually & collectively to combat the biggest talent in Europe, & arguably the World, in Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo is likely to start on the left of a top three but will drift more centrally with regularity so you would expect the disciplined Sami Khedira's role to be helping out right back Jermone Boateng & the rest of the backline at all times, he may well end up almost taking up a man-marking role. If Germany do concentrate too much on Ronaldo then full time Michael Jackson impersonator Nani has all the skills & tricks to take apart a side but he still doesn't do it quite often enough.
Portugal don't have a bad defence at all with Bruno Alves & Pepe at the centre & Fabio Coentrao & Joao Pereira have plenty of Champions League experience in the full back positions, goalkeeper isn't such a great position & there isn't a lot between Eduardo or Rui Patricio. The back four are decent but they don't have as much quality in their holding/defensive midfielders as other sides with Miguel Veloso being decent but some way off top class & Moutinho never fully convincing us & Raul Meireles not being renowned for his defensive application. That part of the field, just off the front man, is where Germany are strongest & Mesut Ozil could have a field day here with Schweinsteiger bossing the Portuguese players & gaining possession time & time again. We just Germany getting off to a great start with a win at odds of 6/5 before their big second game against the Netherlands. Mesut Ozil is a tempter for first scorer as we really fancy him to have a good game but Mario Gomez is Germany's main striker & 11/2 looks a little big for a player with a very good scoring record & excellent season behind him (Robin Van Persie is only as big as 4/1 in earlier game).
Selections:
Denmark to beat Holland at 11/2 (various)
Daniel Agger to score first at 40/1 (Stan James) & at anytime at 16/1 (William Hill)
Nicklas Bendtner to score first at 10/1 (Stan James & BetVictor)
Germany to beat Portugal at 6/5 (BetVictor)
Mario Gomez to score first at 11/2 (various)
No comments:
Post a Comment