Just a few days after the UEFA Champions League final was played, Europe will have another major event with the semi-finals of the first-ever UEFA Nations League.
In Wednesday’s semi-final, Portugal will face Switzerland while England will face the Netherlands on Thursday.
Let’s take a closer look at both games.
(5th June 2019, KO: 20:45 CEST)
Portugal will have the benefit of playing the semi-finals (and possibly finals) at home.
They will also get Cristiano Ronaldo back in the fold, as the Portuguese star took a brief hiatus from international competition after the World Cup, only to return for a scoreless draw with Ukraine during the last international break. However, Portugal doesn’t have much going other than those two factors.
The reigning European champions haven’t recorded a win since a friendly against Scotland last October, drawing four straight games. There are also some concerns about their defense given the advanced age of center backs Pepe and Jose Fonte. However, with Ronaldo, Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva, and 19-year-old João Félix, the Portuguese side
Meanwhile, a Swiss side that’s known for its organization and defense has struggled to keep opposing teams from scoring lately. They gave up three goals to Denmark in a Euro qualifier in March and had a puzzling loss against Qatar back in November. Also, their only clean sheets in their last 12 games dating back to last summer’s World Cup have come against Iceland and Georgia.
Of course, the Swiss made it to the semi-finals by scoring goals. Haris Seferović, who plays his club soccer in Portugal, is a player to watch after his hat trick against Belgium during the group stage. Xherdan Shaqiri, as always, could be a handful for the Portuguese defense despite not playing much at Liverpool this past season.
(6th June 2019, KO: 20:45 CEST)
Of the two games, this is definitely the more anticipated matchup. England will have to adjust to being favorites after their run to the World Cup semi-finals last summer and then topping a group that included Croatia and Spain during the group stage of the Nations League.
Fortunately, they’ve been flexing their offensive muscles lately, scoring 18 goals over their last five games, albeit against somewhat questionable competition. There are obvious questions about Harry Kane’s fitness coming out of the Champions League final. But Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford are both capable goal scorers, as are Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard and others coming out of the midfield.
Of course, the Dutch side has a potentially top-flight back line led by Virgil van Dijk and Matthijs de Ligt. They’ve struggled to keep Germany off the scoreboard in a pair of recent games, so they can be vulnerable against top teams. However, the Dutch also shut out France in a 2-0 win in November.
The question for the Netherlands is if young attacking players are ready for this kind of stage. Memphis Depay has 16 international goals to his name, but the jury is still out on the likes of Donny van de Beek, Frenkie de Jong and Steven Bergwijn at the international level.
Betting wise, take your chances on Portugal and England reaching the finals with 888sport. Ronaldo always seems to rise to the occasion in big games, so he’ll find a way to carry Portugal to the final. Meanwhile, England will use the experience they’ve gathered over the past year to sidestep a much younger Dutch side.
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