With the delayed Euro’s tournament finally on the horizon this week, just about everyone is having their say on what they predict will happen, who will succeed and a whole host of bold thoughts on this summers’ tournament, and here at NextGoalWinner we love jumping on the bandwagon.

So, with that being said, allow us to make 5 predictions of key talking points and events we are expecting to make headlines and contribute to make this tournament one to remember. With just over a month for the tournament, and the 51 games to begin and come to a close, we will return to this post and discuss our successes and (if by some shocking miracle) failures, the morning after the final on the 12th July, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Without further ado, let’s get going on the predictions. With just days until the Turkey vs Italy kick-off, there’s no time to lose.

If you have any thoughts on our predictions, or have any of your own, we’d love to hear them over on Twitter @NextGoalWinBlog.

It’s Coming Home?

Undoubtedly the biggest discussion point (in this country at least), creating conversation in pubs around the country, is the chances of this youthful and exciting England side. After finishing 4th in the 2018 World Cup, and a 3rd place Nations League finish the following year, this England side under Southgate is finally aiming to peak and end the 55 year wait for a trophy. With the improvements in the current squad from the one that wowed many in 2018, England are currently sitting as second favourites to go all the way and bring the trophy home (from Wembley I guess).

With the likes of Sancho, Bellingham, Rice and James boosting the existing talent within the side of Rashford, Kane, Maguire and Henderson, Southgate has a whole host of world-renowned talent within his optimistic camp. This tournament may well be England’s strongest chance of winning a tournament in some time, and with fans, players, journalists and the manager all singing from the same hymn sheet, it’s not unrealistic to set high expectations.

As a result of this optimism, England have been placed at very decent odds of winning the whole thing, at a joint favourite of 9/2 in most bookmakers. This drops down to 3/1 for the side to make the final, and a expecting 4/11 to win their group.

With regards to my predictions for England, while I would love to go all-in and claim England will win the whole thing, I simply cannot put that in writing at risk of jinxing the whole thing. Instead however, I expect England to qualify top of their group, after going unbeaten in their 3 fixtures. From here I ran the numbers on other predictions to figure out the knockout draws (bloody hell, this 3rd place thing is a ball ache). In their opening knockout round, I am expecting England to face a tough opponent in Portugal, and this may just be the chance for England to take revenge on their 2004 opponents Portugal who knocked England out on penalties. I predict a same fate after a tense draw in 90 minutes which results in a penalty shootout, however England will take revenge and win this one with Pickford being the hero once again. This will potentially lead to another tough game in the quarter final against Spain. I think England will outplay the Spanish side who are in the midst of an overhaul and currently seem lost compared to their 2010 dominance. Then, in the semi-final match, this will again be a difficult hurdle as they take on a revitalised Dutch side under former Crystal Palace disaster, Frank De Boer. With the nation believing, and possibly one of the hardest knockout journeys, England will fall short of the France side, as fatigue takes over and the current world champions display their dominance once again on the big stage.

While writing that was difficult to envisage England pulling out all these heroic victories, only to fall at the final hurdle, I think it’s a realistic expectation for Southgate’s men to pull off some surprises, however, after a 4th place 2018 finish, 3rd in 2019 and possibly 2nd 2021, the stage is set for a peak as they reach the no.1 spot in next years’ World Cup, when football will truly come home.

Surprisingly Unsurprising

Next up, my 2nd prediction is that I expect we will see a former giant of the game taking centre stage once again, and there are several key contenders for this one. With Italy last having success in 2006, they have becoming a sleeping giant who failed to even qualify for the last major tournament in 2018. While, as an England fan, I’m not one to talk about gaps between tournament wins, however going 15 years without any real success for the Italians who have 4 World Cups to their name is quite significant. Although I acknowledge their runners up medal in the 2012 Euro’s, I think they have struggled in the 9 years since to refresh the squad and bring through new talents in a post Buffon, Pirlo and Di Natale world. However, the tides have turned once again for Italy, and under Mancini, they are having a real resurgence, and with youngsters like Chiesa, Donnarumma and Bastoni linking up with more experienced talents of Insigne and Immobile, the Italians have a solid squad of talent ready for this years’ tournament. With what on paper seems like a straight forward group for the Italians, I would expect them to breeze into the knockout rounds, where they may just spring some surprises. At odds of 11/1 to win the whole thing, I would put them as my possible outsiders to go on and cause an upset.

Should the Italians fail to capitalise on their revitalisation, my alternative pick for a sleeping giant come good, is the boys in orange of the Netherlands. The Dutch haven’t seen major success since way back in the Euros of 1988. Since then, they were 2nd in the 2010 World Cup, and came runners up in the 2019 Nations League, however I could see them having a decent crack at this years’ tournament. Although they are missing the key man in Virgil Van Dijk, and it has been announced today as I write that Donny Van De Beek is out through injury, all while the jury is still out for Frank De Boer, a seemingly in-form Memphis Depay is ready to lead the line for his side, and with a move to Barcelona in the offing, he will be on top of the world (or possibly Europe at least) this summer and ready to step up on the big stage. At slightly longer odds of 12/1, it’s again an outside shout, but with these 2 sides having a strong possibility of going far, we are set for an exciting summer of football.

Sanitized Football

My 3rd prediction is almost a guarantee, however I am going to ramp it up by predicting something more wild and radical from the returning fans to stadiums across Europe. After over a year without many fans attending the game, and the English summer heat setting a precedent for England’s group fixtures, and of course the final, I am predicting that fans returning will bring excitement, and a lot of chaos. To what extent, I am yet unsure, however I expect streakers, witty chanting and several cult heroes to emerge that have fans across Europe singing songs about their performances. I am anticipating that much coverage will be on fans in the opening weeks, however if the sun keeps shining over England, and the results go our way, I’m almost willing to predict an Old Trafford level pitch invasion from fans inside and outside of Wembley should England pull off the remarkable on July 11th.

Aside from predicting some form of wild chaotic fan performances, I wanted to split this prediction to also claim that I envisage the negative pandemic aspects having a big part to play later in the tournament. With several players and teams already experiencing setbacks due to Covid, I am predicting that the virus will rear it’s ugly head once again in the latter knockout rounds, thus causing major discussing and debate surrounding postponements, forfeits and late call ups to the squads. Whether this is through key players being forced to sit out knockout games, or even a whole team becoming at risk of the virus I’m obviously not sure, and I hope that many precautions are in place to counter this. However, despite turning this optimistic fan prediction into a negative Covid one, I can’t help but picture it having another big part to play in this summer’s tournament.

They Can Boogie

Despite having no real connection to the nation north of the border aside from occasional weekends away in Glasgow and Edinburgh, I feel somehow warmed by the recent success of the Scottish national side. Although come the England vs Scotland group game, I’ll be cheering for a drubbing of our near rivals, I already envisage Steve Clarke’s boys becoming a bit of a cult hit for spectators at the Euro’s.

Having been unbeaten since November 18th, and their fantastic penalty shootout drama which got them to the tournament, Scotland have been impressing in their warm up matches, including a great 2-2 result against a strong Dutch side. With Rangers’ recent success under Gerrard, and the emergence of some impressive Scottish talents, football is having a real good spell in Scotland, and those outside of the country are starting to take note.

Therefore, my prediction for Scotland, is that they will surprise many, and have a decent run in this summer’s tournament, beating an aging and possibly ‘past it’ Croatia side to see them progress (with England) to the first knockout stage. From here, I’m not sure how far they could go, however after a good showing over the Netherlands recently, who’s to say what they could pull off. As Wales did back in 2016, I think this is the summer of Scotland, with the likes of Robertson, Tierney, McTominay and Gilmour putting on a real spectacle that will have even us English lot cheering them on.

Price Increase

We have seen so many instances whereby players make a name for themselves in international tournaments, thus adding another 0 or 2 onto their market value, with the likes of James Rodriguez and Golovin instantly springing to mind. With my final prediction, I am expecting to see several young talents claiming the headlines and taking plaudits in this tournament, leading to a variety of big money moves becoming possible later in the summer months. To do this, I have picked out a key player from each group, that I believe will light up the tournament, give fans something to cheer and importantly for my point, inflate their market value significantly only to fail to quite meet the hype and expectation back in the club game. Here’s my players to watch selections;

Group A – Federico Chiesa (Italy – Juventus) The 23 year old winger/forward is making a name for himself already at Juventus, and despite being alongside a fairly large egotist in Ronaldo, and battling with other massive talents in the game for his place in a below-par Juventus side, he is becoming a key man in the resurgent Italian side. Having already received 25 caps, he has scored just 1 goal for his senior international side, however after scoring 14 in 43 during his debut Juventus season, he is looking like he may be able to play a big role for Italy this summer, and Juventus in the coming years.

Group B – Jérémy Doku (Belgium – Rennes) Having to compete with Romelu Lukaku is no easy feat for any young player, however with the possibility of rotation within the tournament, this young 19 year old forward could become an exciting player to watch out for this summer. With another strong Belgium side heading into the tournament, many expect big things from the side, and this youngster has plenty of talent to excite audiences after coming off the bench. Keep your eyes peeled for the game against Finland in which I anticipate Belgium to run riot and be let of the leash.

Group C – Goran Pandev (North Macedonia – Genoa) Alright, this is not a player who I’m expecting to really add much value to himself in the club game, however this man is the one to watch in group C. Although the Netherlands are one of my teams I expect to spring a surprise on many, it’s the 37 year old Pandev whom I selected to keep an eye on this summer. Having scored the goal that took North Macedonia to their first qualification for a major tournament after a 1-0 win over Georgia, Pandev will be captaining his side this summer. As the nations captain, top capped player and leading scorer in history, this is a fairytale story for a player in the twilight of his career, and I expect a cult-like following of him and his nation this summer.

Group D – Billy Gilmour (Scotland – Chelsea) The young midfielder has already impressed in the last season or 2 at Chelsea, and despite rumours of a potential loan move in the offing last January, it failed to materialise. Instead, he stuck it out at Chelsea and although failing to get much time on the field, he is set to be a key man for this exciting Scotland side. With England looking strong, but Croatia looking past their best, Scotland could just shock many and make a dent on group D, and with some impressive talents of Robertson, Tierney and Gilmour, who’s to say what they could pull off.

Group E – Alexander Isak (Sweden – Real Sociedad) This young forward is starting to make a name for himself in Spain and also for his country, as he bagged 17 goals in La Liga last season, and is being touted as the new Zlatan replacement for the Swedish side. After writing another Euro 2020 preview, over on FM Scout (check it out, it’s good I promise), Isak sprung to my attention, and in a group involving Spain, Sweden, Poland and Slovakia, he’s my one to watch.

Group F – Marcus Thuram (France – Borussia Mönchengladbach) The son of Lilian Thuram is ready to make a name for himself on the international stage, and despite having to compete with some of the worlds most exciting attackers, Thuram offers versatility and aerial ability could be useful for France against their opponents who opt to sit back and defend through the 90 minutes. This could certainly lead to a big move from Germany with many clubs looking for an exciting young forward to bolster their attacks in the coming season.