4 Reasons to hang your hopes on England for Euro 2016

Could England actually be the Euro 2016 champs? Many fans seem to think so and they’re not alone. Predictions from betting experts, and even the team’s coach, reveals that this could be the tournament where England comes out on top. Why? The following are some of the reasons the team could surprise us all and take the championship.

The England Squad is based on attack – Roy Hodgson is very confident that his final 23-man England Squad are ready to go all the way. Hodgson, the team’s manager, has opted for an attacking England squad, deciding to favor an offensive approach over a defensive one. While he has been criticized by some for this strategy, he’s confident that England will still have a solid defense because defending is a team job that shouldn’t be left up to a “back four and a goalkeeper.” He also stated that the squad of strong players has both fantastic running power and mobility.

Sportsbooks are backing England to win – while casinos of several sportsbooks are offering Euro 2016 promotions and betting odds on England – such as Ladbrokes, William Hill and Bet365 – none are offering better betting odds for England than Tonybet.com, which is backing England at amazing 10/1 odds. Interestingly, however, the sportsbook doesn’t actually think that England will win but is willing to be “poor and join the party” if they do manage to score the championship.

England is predicted to be the tournaments dark horse – England was the only team of all the 24 competing to win all their qualifying games. This lead to some making the Euro 2016 prediction back in April that the team would win the tournament outright with favored 12/1 odds. If England maintains this same strength in the competition, it could very well be the tournaments dark horse.

The squad shows more promise than it has in years – While England may be entering the 15^th edition of the UEFA championship in France with less hype than expected, for the first time in several years the carefully-crafted squad shows a lot of promise.  Hodgson has combined emerging Premier League talent, such as Tottenham’s 19-year-old midfielder Dele Alli and other young players with star-potential with established names like Wayne Rooney and Joe Hart.

That being said, not everyone believes in England’s ability to take home the championship. England’s former skipper Rio Ferdinand has already written off the team’s chances of winning Euro 2016. He believes that England doesn’t stand a chance because it lacks the “togetherness” that is needed for a winning squad environment; a belief and philosophy of the manager that, according to Ferdinand, has always been lacking from England’s squads in the past.

Soon we’ll see whose predictions are right.