Euro 2024: Portugal v Czech Republic - Match Preview & Odds
Once again you can find the latest team news, match insights and expert betting tips right here at betting.bet as well as the best pre-match odds and free bet offers
The final match of the first round of group matches at Euro 2024 will take place on Tuesday evening as 2016 winners Portugal take on Czech Republic at the Leipzig Stadium. Once again you can find the latest team news, match insights and expert betting tips right here at betting.bet as well as the best pre-match odds and free bet offers from our partners at Virgin Bet.
Form
Portugal qualified for Euro 2024 in impressive style, winning all ten of their qualification games whilst boasting both the best attack and best defence across all ten qualifying groups. Portugal were the only team to achieve a 100% record in qualifying, earning wins home and away against Slovakia, Luxembourg, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Liechtenstein. The 2016 European champions conceded just two goals in their ten matches whilst scoring an impressive 36 times.
Portugal were one of the few nations to have played three warm up matches this month and whilst they did earn wins over both Finland (4-2) and Republic of Ireland (3-0) they did suffer a 2-1 defeat against Croatia.
The Czech Republic qualified for their eight straight European Championships as runner up behind Albania in their qualification group. Both Albania and Czech Republic finished level on 15 points from their eight matches but Albania topped the group thanks to a superior head-to-head record.
The Czech Republic have won four out of four so far in 2024, including June’s double-header against Malta (7-1) and North Macedonia (2-1).
Team News
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez has an extremely enviable task of picking a start XI from one of the tournament’s strongest squads. Captain, talisman and all-time record goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo will lead the line for Portugal and is amongst the favourites to win the Golden Boot.
However, elsewhere, Martinez has several key decisions to make. Diogo Jota, Pedro Neto and Joao Felix are amongst those that may have to settle for a place on the bench whilst full-backs Joao Cancelo and Nuno Mendes are likely to get the nod ahead of Diogo Dalot.
Pepe is expected to start alongside Ruben Dias as the heart of the Portuguese defence and in doing so the 41-year-old will become the oldest player in European Championship history.
The Czech Republic were handed a major pre-tournament blow as FC Twente midfielder Michal Sadilek was ruled out of the tournament through injury.
There will be a couple of familiar faces to English Premier League fans in the Czech Republic starting XI with West Ham United duo Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek both expected to start. Soucek will captain the Czech Republic on what will be his 70th senior international.
Patrik Schick finished as joint-highest goalscorer at Euro 2020 but after an injury-disrupted couple of seasons, the Bayer Leverkusen forward should start in attack for the Czech Republic.
Predicted Line Ups
Portugal: Costa, Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Mendes, Palhinha, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes, Leao, Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva
Czech Republic: Stanek, Holes, Hranac, Krejci, Coufal, Soucek, Provod, Barak, Jurasek, Kuchta, Schick
Portugal v Czech Republic: Head-to-Head
Portugal and Czech Republic have met in the European Championships on three previous occasions. Karel Poborsky’s sublime lob earned Czech Republic a 1-0 win en route to the Euro ‘96 semi-final whilst Portugal got the better of Tuesday’s opponents in both Euro 2008 (3-1) and Euro 2012 (1-0).
Portugal also defeated Czech Republic home and away in the UEFA Nations League in 2022 and now boast a record of four wins from five matches against their Euro 2024 Group F rivals.
Betting Tips
Portugal have been tipped by many to progress deep into this summer’s tournament and with so many match winners in their squad, it's not hard to see why. Portugal look good value for the win at 4/9.
With just two goals conceded in qualification, Portugal boast one of the leanest defences in world football. Combined with an obvious lack of goals amongst the Czech Republic squad and Portugal to win to nil could be a shrewd bet at 6/5.
As far as goal scorers go, Cristiano Ronaldo is right up there with the best that have ever played the game. The 39-year-old heads to Germany fresh on the back of breaking the record for league goals scored in a Saudi Pro League season and boasts an astonishing record of 130 goals in 207 matches for Portugal. Ronaldo will be the go-to selection in most available goalscorer markets on Tuesday and below are just some of the bets featuring the five-time Ballon d’Or winner that you should consider.
Match Odds
| Portugal | Draw | Czech Republic |
|---|---|---|
| 4/9 | 10/3 | 11/2 |
Predicted Match Result Portugal 3-0 Czech Republic (17/2)
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