Football
Free or 4: Robbie Savage provides his European Championship picks
Free or 4 is back for the European Championship as William Hill ambassador Robbie Savage shares his tips for what is set to be a thrilling festival of football.
Free or 4 is William Hill’s free-to-play game in which players simply need to pick six games that will have either three or four goals in them. Choose from any of the 36 games across the European Championship group stage for a chance to win up to £200 in free bets! Five out of six correct picks can earn you a £5 bet, with four out of six winning you a £1 bet.
Entries are now open and run until the kick-off of England v Croatia at 2pm on June 13.
Read on to discover Robbie’s Free or 4 predictions for the European Championship group stage.
Robbie Savage’s picks
Robbie’s first pick from the group stages is the Group B clash Belgium v Russia on June 12. Given the talent Belgium possess in their squad these days they are always going to be in and amongst the goals, and when it came to qualifying for the tournament, no team scored more than their total of 40. The Red Devils are strongly fancied to go all the way this year at 6/1 and Romelu Lukaku has been in great form for Inter Milan this season. What’s more, the last three meetings between these two nations have brought about 15 goals.
Next up for Robbie is one of the first games in Group C on June 13: Netherlands v Ukraine. Frank de Boer’s Netherlands aren’t quite the same attacking team of old these days, but when they’re involved it’s never going to be dull, as seen with their recent 2-2 draw with Scotland. Ukraine, meanwhile, are to be underestimated at your peril after topping their qualifying group ahead of reigning European champions Portugal. Sav is expecting goals in this one, and while these two nations have only met twice previously, Netherlands ran out 3-0 winners in the first game.
For Robbie’s third selection, it’s over to Group D for Hungary v Portugal on June 15. If history is anything to go by with this fixture, then we could well be in for plenty of goal-mouth action. These two actually met in the group stage of Euro 2016 as Cristiano Ronaldo spared Portugal’s blushes with a brace to earn a 3-3 draw in a six-goal thriller to ensure the nation just about made it through to the knockout rounds. You wouldn’t bet against Ronaldo having to do something similar this time around either.
For Robbie’s fourth pick, it’s the big one: England v Scotland from Wembley on June 18 in Group D. Gareth Southgate’s England side head into the tournament as the second favourites behind France at 5/1 and boast an array of attacking options not seen for quite some time, while Scotland will be on a huge high and well up for this one after reaching their first major tournament in 23 years. Something’s got to give. The last three meetings between the two great rivals have seen three or four goals scored in them to boot.
It’s back over to Group B for Sav’s penultimate selection, where he’s gone for Denmark v Belgium, which takes place on June 17. As discussed, we know all about Belgium’s attacking capabilities, while Denmark are always a strong team when it comes to tournament football and secured a recent 1-1 draw with Germany, while they will be dreaming of a repeat of their stunning Euro 92 success. That said, it’s Belgium who should provide the goals in this one, having beaten their opponents 4-2 when they met in the Nations League last year, with Lukaku netting a double.
And last but not least, Robbie’s final pick for the group stages is Turkey v Wales – the Group A clash taking place on June 16. Sav will of course be backing the Welsh, who will be looking to make another major impact on the tournament, having gone all the way to the semi-finals at Euro 2016. It could be Turkey doing the scoring in this one, however, with Senol Gunes’ team having the joint-best defensive record in the qualifying stages, conceding just three goals in a group that also include tournament favourites France. No mean feat.
