The UEFA Nations League 2020/2021 Discussion Thread

[slaman29]

Sounds like quite an accusation to Albania, although usually when it always loses and there is a suspicion of matchfixing it is usually the losers who are investigated, so this is Kosovo. I've got no idea about any of the two teams and how they play, did anyone see the match and does it look like there was something fishy going on?

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[buwaytress]

Pretty messy weekend for me after all. Actually came out on top in the end, but only because of a boosted parlay thing, otherwise, I got KO'd here and there from draws.

My personal summary of most of the teams I follow:
- Scotland got tired, and can't score without Robbo.
- Georgia starred in Nations League, have been lacklustre ever since.
- Iceland were a 1-hit wonder.
- Netherlands can't win anymore, unless they get to play a really weak team.
- England have lost the plot.
- Spain flips a coin to see if they show up or not.
- France can never be written off.
- Germany wins EURO 2021, unless they give it away.

[Trofo]

- England have lost the plot.
- Germany wins EURO 2021, unless they give it away.

I can agree with most of the above but few are hurting my eyes

Yesterday Belgium put England in their rightful position in that group. England was lucky to win that first match and if we are being honest Belgium has better pool of players at the moment. Especially in central midfield positions. If England had somebody close to De Bruyne quality wise it could have been another story. But Grealish and Mount as their best creative midfielders can't go into same sentence with De Bruyne.

Germany is maybe my biggest disappointment in the last year or so. They are playing so bad defense that if there wasn't Croatia I would say they are the worst at the moment. Yes they are good going forward but when they meet a team like Portugal or France that does good defense and then transition I am putting my money on their opponents. They conceded 3 goals from Turkey and 3 goals from Ukraine recently and basically every team that played against them managed to score a goal.

[Slow death]

i'm italian but for today i have bet Poland, the odd is very high, more of 6 to betfair, i don't understand why.

in the end, Italy ended up showing why the odds were very high, Poland failed to score even one goal. it was a defeat that ended up putting them in third place

i think Lewandowski can score easy today, and Belotti for me today don't  score.

you got it wrong at Lewandowski, but you got it right at  Belotti

I have bet also a multiple bet with England with odd 19 but i think is very hard Belgium lose with Lukaku

and belgium won and whoever bet on belgium must have many reasons to celebrate because the odds were very good. I am surprised by this England team, they are a little inconsistent in the nations league, but they are performing well in games involving the euro

[Cnut237]

Yesterday Belgium put England in their rightful position in that group. England was lucky to win that first match and if we are being honest Belgium has better pool of players at the moment.

Belgium are definitely the better team. England were lucky to win the first match, but arguably Belgium were lucky to win the second given the goals they scored, a deflection and a suspect free kick.
The reaction with England is always so extreme. If they win a match, they're the best team in the world, if they lose a match they are terrible. The truth is somewhere in between, they have some decent players, some areas where they're weak. Overall a middling team, the sort that in major finals will progress beyond the group but struggle in knock-out matches... the same as it has always been!

[swogerino]

Sounds like quite an accusation to Albania, although usually when it always loses and there is a suspicion of matchfixing it is usually the losers who are investigated, so this is Kosovo. I've got no idea about any of the two teams and how they play, did anyone see the match and does it look like there was something fishy going on?

I live here in Albania because of my work.I have lived in all Western Balkan countries before.From what I hear from the locals the match between Albania and Kosovo was not fixed.However they are now afraid that the upcoming game with Belarus is sold by Albanian Football Federation when everyone here expect a victory over Belarus and winning the group and continuing further for the first time in Nations League.

[gabbie2010]

I wasn't surprise with England losing two goals down against the well organized Belgium,  the English team had been parading bunch of overrated players who cannot match Belgium despite all the media hypes and attention given to them in EPL. it was Jack Grealish that performed excellently well and was technically sound, both Rashford and sterling became shadow of former self they hardly tested Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, despite their holding possession and their hope of reaching the Nation league final is now dashed.

[ingiltere]

Turkey - Russia looks like unpredictable game. I pick under 2.5 @1.72.

(Turkey - Russia) In the last match both teams scored, I took this option  on the other hand over / under looks more risky because so far Turkey has been quite active in scoring goals, see in the last 2 games they scored at least 2 goals. This is just my prediction skip if you are in doubt.

BitcoinHunt3r is right, that's a double-edged sword. There is a big possibility that both teams will score tonight. Turkish defense is so unbalanced, sometimes they play really good and sometimes they make stupid mistakes.
I expect Turkish forwards to score tonight. Over 2.5 goals could be a better choice for this game. Bookmakers show slightly favor in under 2.5 goals bet so you might get a good odds, if you play for this match it should be worth the risk you take.

It happened exactly like I said, Russia's red card affect most though, it's good to see your bet winning in 30th minute.

Turkey got their first win this year, it was important. Now we need to win Wednesday at Hungary. It's hard but there is no other choice for Turkey. Russia and Hungary have 8 points, Turkey has 6. Turkey need to win no matter what and wait for Russia to lose against Serbia.

[snipie]

-snip-

When politics get mixed with soccer. Isn't that match a "friendly" one?
In Nations League Kosovo didn't win a single game, a draw vs Moldova even.. while Albania won 2 games, 2 draw and 1 defeats. I dunno but if a friendly match is fixed then the result will be the less favourite team to win not the best imo, no? In other words most people will bet for France winning vs Finland but when I see the final score, I wonder know the names of the winners who bet for Finland  
I am talking in general of course and comparing the two events when a normal win is suspicious and a surprised one is normal.

[adamvp]

uefa has cancelled the match between romania and norway scheduled for sunday evening.
after the positive corona test of Omar Elabdellaoui, the norwegian health authority had ordered quarantine for the entire team.
the uefa control committee must now decide on the score of the game...

I heard that it is a possibility they will perform a drawing and it is possible Norway will even get winning (!)
Crazy covid times. It was hard to imagine such scenario not so long ago..
I wonder if it will be a  betting for such kind of matches ^^

[acquafredda]

Is it just me or it seems that the odds for this last Nations League round were completely messed up? Let us leave aside Kosovo - Albania (match-fixing), what about the other odds? Nations League please disappear and evaporate! Useless competition 😊

[tyKiwanuka]

Germany is maybe my biggest disappointment in the last year or so. They are playing so bad defense that if there wasn't Croatia I would say they are the worst at the moment. Yes they are good going forward but when they meet a team like Portugal or France that does good defense and then transition I am putting my money on their opponents. They conceded 3 goals from Turkey and 3 goals from Ukraine recently and basically every team that played against them managed to score a goal.

I second that - offense wins games, defense wins Championships. It's a bit of a meh saying, but carries a lot of truth. Defensively the german NT is really pathetic since a long time. This was kind of expected after Boateng/Hummels (were) retired from international duties, but what worries me the most, is that there seems to be no improvement after such a long time. Boateng/Hummels were a terrific duo for a long time, but the quality is still there with Süle/Rüdiger/Tah, they just can't get their act together. This is also due to Löw always taking a very offensive approach, which I like, but if you have 75% of the team in an attacking state of mind, you as a defender are doomed and often look poor. Lahm is also missing a lot after all those years, what a player he was.

Another problem is the lack of leadership on the pitch. You have all these skilled players, but no real boss, like for example Schweinsteiger was and Müller still is (at Bayern). Kroos should normally be that guy, but it's against his temper in the end and you can't force it out of a player.

There is lots of work to do defensively and in terms of team spirit, offensively it's a beauty to watch all the time though. But Germany has always been a team, that excels during a tournament and other nations have their own problems.

Just a look at the Euro2021 odds already tells you, how wide open this tournament will be:


Source: https://orbitexch.com/customer/sport/market/1.145971579

England at 6.2 though....but they are always low on Betfair, because of the majority of customers being british. Beliiiiiiiiieeeeeeevvvvvveeeeeee

[coderben]

I was expecting Belgium-England to be the best match of the night but it wasn't too good. England were too clumsy and couldn't score even one goal with that dominancy after Belgium got ahead.

[BitcoinHunt3r]

I was expecting Belgium-England to be the best match of the night but it wasn't too good. England were too clumsy and couldn't score even one goal with that dominancy after Belgium got ahead.

England defeat thwarted my parlay only left in this match    Harry Kane is one of the players who actively scores goals in all competitions somehow he didn't do it yesterday
Next England must compete with Denmark in group A2  It's so hard to guess who will take 2nd place.

[tomahawk9]

Well don't worry, sometimes parking bus strategy produces some corners too , and there you go ... you've just got 2 corners in the first 18 minutesnow!

first half they had 4 corners, and then in the 2nd half they had one single corner even though they were 2-0 down, just enough for my bet to win, oof!

the Azzurri bet also hit with the exact amount of goals to win the full handicap https://i.ibb.co/6JTtqL5/win.png (btw, that was hands down the worse Poland performance i have ever seen)
thay's 3/3 wins this weekend with the Germany bet from the other day    will post my picks tomorrow, we'll have some crucial matches to decide who advances to the Final Four...i'm already expecting many goals, many corners and possibly many yellow cards

[Trofo]

Just a look at the Euro2021 odds already tells you, how wide open this tournament will be:


Source: https://orbitexch.com/customer/sport/market/1.145971579

England at 6.2 though....but they are always low on Betfair, because of the majority of customers being british. Beliiiiiiiiieeeeeeevvvvvveeeeeee

Looking at those odds, England definitely overvalued by big margin. No way they are first favorites of the EURO but as you said it is a consequence of a plethora of British guys placing bets

Belgium has great squad but not the winning mentality so maybe overvalued a little as well.

If I was placing bet at this moment I would go with Portugal. They are what I consider ultimate tournament team. Strong in the back with heaps of experience and a couple of extraordinary individuals. And you always have get out of the jail card in CR. That odds of 14 look like good value.

Other teams look priced about right to me.

[DeathAngel]

Belgium vs England tonight, I think Belgium will be keen to seek revenge after England defeated them recently.
I think Mr De Bruyne is going to run the show tonight.

As expected lol.
Belgium has taken control of that UNL Group now. They pretty much outclassed England in all departments. If you look at the England squad, it’s one of the weakest I have seen over the years.

[adamvp]

Germany is maybe my biggest disappointment in the last year or so. They are playing so bad defense that if there wasn't Croatia I would say they are the worst at the moment. Yes they are good going forward but when they meet a team like Portugal or France that does good defense and then transition I am putting my money on their opponents. They conceded 3 goals from Turkey and 3 goals from Ukraine recently and basically every team that played against them managed to score a goal.

Just a look at the Euro2021 odds already tells you, how wide open this tournament will be:


Source: https://orbitexch.com/customer/sport/market/1.145971579

England at 6.2 though....but they are always low on Betfair, because of the majority of customers being british. Beliiiiiiiiieeeeeeevvvvvveeeeeee

Very strange odds, I think neither Spain nor Germany has big chances to win next Euro..

Anyway. Back into Nations League for me biggest disapoitment was Poland..
I cannot believe team with Lewandowski, Szczesny and few young talented players plays so terribly weak..
Poland's coach isn't the most professional - maybe it is a reason?
But I saw post regarding extra high odds for Poland, it is very strange...

[buwaytress]

@Trofo and @ty:  Unfortunately you're right. Modern football anyway. Offense wins you games and gets you far, but every winner of a tourney and league generally has a solid defence. That's simply math. And that's why I worry this season Liverpool won't get any joy in any competition.

Yesterday Belgium put England in their rightful position in that group. England was lucky to win that first match and if we are being honest Belgium has better pool of players at the moment. Especially in central midfield positions. If England had somebody close to De Bruyne quality wise it could have been another story. But Grealish and Mount as their best creative midfielders can't go into same sentence with De Bruyne.

Germany is maybe my biggest disappointment in the last year or so. They are playing so bad defense that if there wasn't Croatia I would say they are the worst at the moment. Yes they are good going forward but when they meet a team like Portugal or France that does good defense and then transition I am putting my money on their opponents. They conceded 3 goals from Turkey and 3 goals from Ukraine recently and basically every team that played against them managed to score a goal.

All due respect, agree. Grealish is awesome but it's hard to argue he'll ever get to the level of KdB even on his best day. I know I said things too quickly in retrospect, looking at all these games, but also really important to say for me that this season's play and form is a completely vague variable, and I hate to say it, but it's almost a direct impact of covid and people playing far more than they should.

I know it's only Nations League but every team almost was playing with absolute lethargy on the games I watched. Sharpness is almost gone from every player (I don't have stats but I'm sure if someone did a survey they'd find levels dropped off). Goals are still coming as the defensive lack of sharpness makes up for the loss of offensive sharpness but we're not seeing teams playing at their best, anywhere.

[coinlocket$]

The next turn will be the last one. FINALLY!



source: https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/news/025b-0ed7ed02a153-4a89ef7e7eff-1000--fixtures-and-results/

Big game? Span Germany 1 game for 1 slot for the finals.