Euro 2016 analysis & betting – the home nations

With the 2016 European Championships just around the corner we thought we’d take a look at each of the home nations and assess their chances of success at the tournament.

England

Let’s start with England and Roy Hodgson should be relatively pleased with their Group B draw after being pitted against Russia, Slovakia and of course Wales.

The Three Lions are currently the 11/10 favourites to progress as group winners and 12/1 to win the tournament outright. Having come through the qualifying campaign in fine style, being the only team to win all 10 of their qualifying games, England could actually be the tournaments dark horses. If you do decide to back England, make sure you take advantage of your Euro free bets to make your money go further.

While Russia are always a dangerous side on their day, they aren’t the force they were after losing to Moldova and Austria in qualifying so England should be confident of winning the opening game on June 11th. Slovakia should be relatively straightforward but Wales will be the toughest test for England in the group stages.

Wales

The Welsh were outstanding during qualifying having finished second behind Belgium and I really think they can cause plenty of problems in France this summer. If Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale are fit, they have the quality to beat Russia and will be confident of doing so against Slovakia.

The key game will obviously be when Wales take on England on June 16th and some may say it could determine the Group B winner. Wales are 4/6 to qualify from the group and I think that looks like great value considering how confident Chris Coleman’s men will be heading across the channel.

Republic of Ireland

Having come through the play offs, the Republic of Ireland were drawn in the group of death with Belgium, Italy and Sweden so it’s going to be a tough ask for them to pick up a point never mind progress from the group stages.

The good news is they enjoy the underdog tag and they’ll have the backing of their tremendous supporters so you can never write off the Irish. Martin O’Neill’s side are 5/2 to qualify for the knockout stages and if they can beat Germany, as they did in qualifying, who knows what they can do this summer.

Northern Ireland

Last but not least we have Northern Ireland. The final home nation are the biggest outsiders of the tournament at 500/1 but it must feel like they’ve already won it just to get to the finals. Nobody thought they’d get through qualifying but they stunned everyone after winning a group that included the likes of Romania and Hungry.

A group containing Germany, Poland and Ukraine awaits and the Green and White Army could be this summers surprise package. You can get odds of 11/4 on Northern Ireland getting out of the group and with two teams qualifying, I think they are pretty tempting odds.