Czech Republic U21 vs. England U21 Betting Tips: Two bets for The Young Lions' opening U21 Euro 2023 match
England U21s kick-off their U21 European Championship campaign on Thursday evening (5pm) against Group C opponents Czech Republic at the Adjarabet Arena in Batumi, Georgia.
Below we set the scene for the match and pick out our best bets.
England U21s head into the tournament as the 9/2 second favourites in the outright betting market, behind frontrunners Spain.
It's been an absolute age since The Young Lions triumphed at the European Championships, with the second of their two cup successes stretching all the way back to 1984; in their only Final appearance since they were hammered 4-0 by Germany in 2009.
England U21 boss Lee Carsley has a strong squad at his disposal, featuring the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Jacob Ramsey, Levi Colwill, and Curtis Jones. They now head into their opening fixture as the hot 1/2 favourites for the three points.
The Czech Republic's one and only European Championship success came in 2002 when they beat France on penalties. Bookmakers have priced them up at 40/1 to win the 2023 edition, and they are 11/2 to upset England on Thursday, while a draw can be backed at 3/1.
Czech Republic U21 vs England U21 Tips
I'm going to stay away from the outright match odds market given that England U21s haven't opened up a European Championship finals with a win since 2009.
Neither team head into the tournament on a winning note either.
England have lost their last two matches, including a 2-0 defeat to Japan earlier this month, while the Czech Republic are without a win in five games dating back to September.
The countries are familiar with each other, having faced-off in qualifying for the tournament. England won eight of their 10 matches to finish top of Group G, three points ahead of the Czechs who recorded seven wins.
England won both matches between the teams, recording a 3-1 win on home soil - featuring a brace from Anthony Gordon - then won 2-1 away thanks to goals from Emile Smith Rowe and Jacob Ramsey.
With that said, both teams to score looks decent value at even-money with bet365.
Lee Carsley has a talented cluster of attacking options available to him, including Cameron Archer, Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Gordon, Emile Smith Rowe, and Jacob Ramsey.
The latter, a key cog in this England side, has the confidence and talent to make a real statement this summer.
Ramsey had his goalscoring boots on at the end of the season, finding the back of the net against both Tottenham and Liverpool as Aston Villa secured a place in the Europa Conference League.
Prior to that, he was on the scoresheet for England U21s in March's 4-0 demolition of France and scored in the 2-1 win over Czech Republic in qualifying.
His surging runs forward and composed nature in the final third should see him get plenty of chances against a side that have failed to win any of their last five games.
His eye for goal makes him an attractive bet at 16/5 with William Hill in the anytime goalscorer market.
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