It’s been 24 years since Serbia made it to UEFA’s European Championship, but they are back now for the first time since 2000. Their current manager, Dragan Stojkovic, played on the 2000 team, appearing in all three group games. The Serbs made it all the way to the quarterfinals in that tournament, where they ran into the buzzsaw known as the Netherlands, falling 6-1. If you look at the roster for the Serbian squads used in EURO 2024 qualifying, six players appeared in at least one match who hadn’t even been born when their country last advanced to this tournament.
The side came in second in their qualifying group, getting only four wins and 14 points out of eight games. Their group opponents (Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Montenegro) were not all that intimidating, so expectations are fairly mediocre this time around. The Serbs are in Group C; should we take them seriously in our EuroCup betting? Read on to get our thoughts on this group.
Betting UEFA EURO 2024 Group C Predictions: Serbia, Slovenia, Denmark, England | Soccer Odds
Serbia
The team went into the 2022 World Cup with mammoth expectations. They finished ahead of Portugal in their qualifying group, thanks to a thrilling game-winning goal in the last group play game from Aleksandar Mitrovic to send the Portuguese home without any points. Once the action moved to Qatar, though, things fell apart as the Serbs only nabbed one point in three group play matches. In their last six competitive matches, Serbia has just two wins, a pair of 3–1 victories over Lithuania and Montenegro.
They have lost twice to Hungary and tied twice with Bulgaria, who finished in the basement of the EURO qualifying group, so Stojkovic enters this tournament on the hot seat. The Serbians’ defense has been the biggest problem, with only two clean sheets in eight qualifier matches and just five clean sheets in 25 competitive matches under Stojkovic. While Stojkovic has been the manager, Serbia has permitted 9.2 shots and 1.0 xG per match, including plenty of matchups against teams that shouldn’t have presented much of a challenge.
The offense, on the other hand, has been encouraging, and the Serbs have scored in 10 straight competitive matches and in 23 of their 25 competitive matches under Stojkovic. Only six teams in EURO 2024 qualifiers scored in every game. The aerial game has paid off, as Serbia led all teams in qualifying with headed shots (37) and scored five goals that way. Only Spain and Portugal got more goals off headers (7). If you exclude own goals, 36% of Serbia’s goals during qualifying were headers; overall, for all teams, that number was just 17%. So expect the Serbs to score – even if you don’t expect them to stop the opposition.
England
They come in favored to win the whole tournament. They were the runners-up in EURO 2020, falling to Italy, and they head to Germany with all kinds of attacking talent. England has the record for games played in this tournament (38) without winning the whole thing. In their last 18 games at the European Championships (excluding penalty shootouts), the Three Lions have only lost once, with 10 wins and seven draws. In qualifying, they won their group easily, finishing six points above second-place Italy.
England, have not won eight straight qualifying groups for major tournaments, a streak that dates back to EURO 2008 when England finished third in their group and missed the tournament. Captain Harry Kane posted eight goals and two assists in seven qualifying starts, and he leads all European players in goals scored across the last three major international tournaments with 12. He had six at the 2018 World Cup, four at EURO 2020, and a pair at the 2022 World Cup.
Denmark
Danish soccer team would like to get back at England for the 2-1 loss they were dealt at the EURO 2020 semifinals. Denmark won the 1992 European Championships but have only made it to two EURO knockout stages since, going to the quarters in 2004 and the semis in 2020. They won their qualifying group with 22 points, taking wins in each of their five home matches.
Rasmus Hojlund led the Danes with seven goals, 23 shots, 13 shots on target, and an xG of 5.2 throughout qualifying. He had a hat trick in March against Finland that made him the youngest Dane (at 20 years, 47 days) to hit the back of the net that many times in EURO qualifiers since 1983, when Michael Laudrup pulled it off against Luxembourg at the age of 19.
In the 33 matches Denmark has played at European Championships, 92 goals have been scored (42 for, 50 against), suggesting that there will be a lot of offense.
Slovenia
They are the darkest horse in this group. Like Serbia, they haven’t appeared in a European Championship since 2000, when they had two draws and a loss in group play, including a 3-3 draw with Yugoslavia. In qualifying, they won seven games and tallied 22 points, both national records in a major tournament qualifying round. They came in second behind Denmark in Group H on the basis of goal differential.
UEFA EURO 2024 Betting Predictions
England to win | Denmark to advance
2024 EURO 2024 Odds to Win
- England +340
- France +390
- Germany +530
- Portugal +680
- Spain +730
- Italy +1400
- Netherlands +1550
- Belgium +1600
- Croatia +3800
- Denmark +4000
- Turkiye +5000
- Switzerland +6600
- Austria +7500
- Serbia +8000
- Hungary +8000
- Ukraine +9500
- Scotland +10000
- Poland +14000
- Czechia +15000
- Romania +19000
- Slovenia +26000
- Albania +46000
- Slovakia +48000
- Georgia +48000
😀💪#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/wgwsFbbnYX
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 11, 2024
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