Phil Agius is tipping wins for Turkey and Portugal in Tuesday’s two Euro 2024 matches, which close out the first round of group games.
The final matches of the first round of group games at Euro 2024 take place on Tuesday, when football fans will be treated to only two fixtures after having three to enjoy over each of the last three days.
The later game sees the long-awaited debut of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, who take on Czech Republic in Leipzig to close out the first round of matches, but before that Turkey tackle the tournament’s rank outsiders Georgia in Dortmund.
Tuesday’s Euro 2024 Best Bets
Turkey to beat Georgia @ 8/11
Portugal to win to nil @ 19/10
Tough test for newcomers Georgia
Georgia have been made to wait for their first ever European Championship match, but it may well end in disappointment even though they start with what looks the least difficult of their three group games against Turkey.
At 75th in the world rankings, the Georgians are the lowest-rated side in the tournament and they made good use of the Nations League path to the finals having struggled in their regular qualifying group.
Georgia’s only two wins from eight games in Group A came against Cyprus as they finished fourth behind Spain, Scotland and Norway, but a play-off win over Luxembourg and a shootout success against Greece were enough to earn them a ticket to their first finals.
Smaller nations can sometimes overachieve on lowly expectations when blessed with a star player to carry them, but that puts a lot of pressure on Napoli ace Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who averaged 3.8 shots per game in Serie A this season.
Turkey have a point to prove after failing to get out of their group at the last two European Championships, suffering three defeats when talked up in places as lively outsiders for Euro 2020.
They should be able to get a welcome win on the board in this game, though, after topping a qualifying group featuring Croatia, Wales, Armenia and Latvia, suffering only one defeat in their away fixture with the Croats.
They are likely to look better going forward than at the back, with Hakan Calhanoglu of Inter Milan and Real Madrid’s Arda Guler showing the way, but they should be capable of brushing aside Georgia relatively comfortably.
Portugal have the class to cash in against Czechs
There is no shortage of quality in the Portugal squad as they look to replicate their 2016 European Championship success, starting with Tuesday’s game against Czech Republic.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still going strong at the age of 39 with 206 caps and 128 international goals to his name and the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has a happy knack of getting off to a fast start in tournaments.
Ronaldo has netted six goals, including three penalties, in Portugal’s last three major tournament openers, with a hat-trick against Spain in their first game of the 2018 World Cup.
Manager Roberto Martinez failed to get the best out of Belgium’s golden generation, but Portugal fans can have no complaints about his efforts in charge of the Selecao so far, as they won a perfect 10 out of 10 in qualifying.
There are talented younger legs to support Ronaldo these days with Joao Felix of Barcelona, Liverpool’s Diogo Jota and Goncalo Ramos of PSG all excellent options, while Bruno Fernandes, Joao Palhinha and Bernardo Silva can supply them with the ammunition they need.
Czech Republic are not easy to beat and lost only one of their eight qualifying games, conceding just six goals, although they finished runners-up to Albania, who beat them 3-0 in Tirana in October.
A lack of goals could be an issue for the Czechs, who will rely heavily on Patrik Schick and Tomas Soucek, so Portugal to win to nil has plenty of appeal at Betway’s boosted odds of 19/10.
