Betting Week in Review 25/7/2022 – Bookies Joy at Draws
Betting Week in Review 25/7/2022 – Two draws in the Women’s Euros proved to be great news for bookmakers. England v Spain ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, while the game between France v the Netherlands was goalless before extra-time. The English Lionesses qualification is good for operators with a surge of betting expected for the semifinal.
Two Draws at the Euros Delights Bookies © Pixabay.
England Reach Semi-Finals After Extra-Time Win
The English Lionesses are through to the semi-finals of the Euros after beating the tournament’s favourites, Spain, at the Amex Stadium in Brighton on Wednesday.
England was just six minutes away from elimination thanks to a Spanish opener scored by Esther Gonzalez in the 54th minute. However, a goal from Manchester United’s Ella Toone in the 84th minute took the game to extra time. Georgia Stanway scored what would turn out to be England’s winner six minutes into extra-time, with a great shot from distance.
Although England has sailed through their Euro 2022 games, not even conceding a goal before the Spain game, many believed Spain had the quality to cause England problems. Pre-tournament, Spain was the bookie’s pick, but England’s price dropped significantly after England slaughtered Norway, another fancied team for the trophy, 8-0 in the group stage.
England’s form in the competition has been so good that they had been 101/100 favourites to beat Spain, who were priced 277/100. The 1-1 scoreline after 90 minutes was therefore profitable for operators who had priced the draw at 47/20.
The extra time win means England’s excellent unbeaten run under Sarina Wiegman now stands at eighteen matches. Wiegman’s team will also be among those expected to win the Women’s football World cup in 2023.
Late Sweden Winner Sets-Up England Semi
England’s opponent in tomorrow’s semi-final will be Sweden after they scored a late goal to scrape past a plucky Belgium side.
Sweden, the highest-ranked side left in the tournament, was heavy 1/4 favourites to beat Belgium (262/25), but they needed a very late goal by Linda Sembrant to overcome their opponents.
Sweden made hard work of the tie, managing 32 attempts at goal before the breakthrough in the 92nd minute. Stina Blackstenius had thought she had given them the lead early in the game, but VAR ruled out her effort for offside. Nicky Evrard, in the Belgium goal, made some brilliant saves to keep her team in it but was left disappointed after Sembrant’s late goal.
Sweden’s manager Peter Gerhardsson said of the clash with England: “It will be an interesting game. I think we are very difficult to beat,” “We need to ask ourselves, ‘what can we do to stop them [England] from playing well, and what are our opportunities to beat them?’
“We are going to discuss it and look more at their games. They have a good experience. We are going to have a plan. I can assure you we are going to have a plan, and we need an extremely good plan.”
England are currently 7/4 to win the tournament outright, with Sweden now the outsiders at 5/1. The odds for tomorrow’s game see England as 21/25 favourites, with Sweden priced at 67/20. The draw is available at 49/20.
Bookies Expect Tight Germany v France Clash
If England manages to beat Sweden, they will face either Germany or France in Sunday’s final, with the two meeting in what could be an enticing clash on Wednesday.
The bookies see very little between the two, with Germany the slight favourite at 39/25, France are 177/100 with the draw the outside bet at 54/25.
Germany are 7/4 second-favourites to lift the trophy behind England and had three easy wins in their group, including a 4-0 thrashing of well-fancied Denmark. They beat Austria 2-0 in the quarter-finals with goals in both halves from Lina Magull and Alexandra Popp. Popp is currently in excellent form, having scored five in five. She is currently priced at 9/4 to score anytime in Wednesday’s clash.
Their opponents France are third favourites at 13/4 to lift the trophy, and they secured their passage to the semis with a hard-fought 1-0 win against the Netherlands after extra time. Dominique Janssen fouled Kadidiatou Diani in the 102nd minute of the match, resulting in a spot-kick that Eve Perisset converted. Dutch goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar had an excellent game but couldn’t get a strong enough hand on the penalty. Despite the narrow scoreline, it was a deserved win for the French, who had 33 attempts on goal. Only wasteful finishing and the form of Domselaar kept the score respectable.
The England v Sweden game is on Tuesday at 20:00. The Germany v France game is on Wednesday, also at 20:00. Both games will be shown live on BBC One.
