Euro 2024 - Day 4 prediction: Mbappe to make headlines on Monday
One of the big favourites for Euro 2024 glory will join the action on day four of the tournament when France face Austria.
Kylian Mbappe has already made the headlines this summer for his move to Real Madrid, so will the French icon play a leading role in Les Bleus' quest for a third European Championship?
Before that Group D fixture rounds off Monday’s medley of matches, Romania take on Ukraine and Belgium face Slovakia in Group E.
Serhiy Rebrov’s side can be one of the stories of the tournament and are favoured to beat the unheralded Romanians in Munich.
Belgium are even more strongly fancied to get off to a flyer, but Slovakia will have other ideas as they enter their third consecutive Euro finals.
TIP 1 - ROMANIA VS UKRAINE UNDER 2.5 GOALS @ 4/6
Romania are 3/1 underdogs to take all three points from their match against Ukraine, who are Evens to get their campaign off to a winning start.
Few fans in Bucharest really expect Edi Iordanescu’s side to pull off a shock or progress further than the group stage.
That is in contrast to Ukraine, where there is real belief that a team featuring a clutch of Premier League and La Liga stars can challenge Europe’s elite.
Rebrov’s team were the comeback kings of qualifying, battling back from a goal down to win three of their last four competitive games, including both of their play-off matches against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Iceland.
Conceding the opener to Romania could prove more problematic for them as the Tricolorii shipped only four goals during an unbeaten qualifying run that saw them keep five clean sheets.
Ukraine are more pragmatic now than when they were under Andriy Schevchenko’s leadership at the last Euros and are happy to play a more patient style when the situation demands it.
Five of their eight qualifiers produced fewer than three goals, the same ratio of Romania’s Group I games, so this contest looks likely to be low-scoring.
TIP 2 - BELGIUM 3 SLOVAKIA 0 CORRECT SCORE @ 9/1
Belgium begin this tournament with lower expectations from outside the camp of them being serious title contenders, which is probably because of their disastrous World Cup campaign in 2022.
Roberto Martinez’s squad appeared to divide along language lines two years ago but the players reported to be at the heart of that schism have now gone and a new harmony has been found.
The Red Devils’ recent results bear that out with Belgium bringing a 15-game unbeaten run into the tournament following their last defeat to Morocco in Qatar.
Unlike in previous tournaments, playmaker Kevin De Bruyne arrives without too many miles on his clock.
The Manchester City star should be fresh after being carefully managed by his club in the wake of a long-term injury and should have too much intelligence and spark for Slovakia in Frankfurt.
The Slovaks have been one of the main beneficiaries of the tournament’s expansion to 24 teams and are about to embark on their third finals in a row.
They won seven of their 10 games in qualifying, but were comfortably second-best to Portugal, who beat them twice.
Although Francesco Calzona’s side lost by a single goal to the Portuguese on both occasions, they could easily have shipped seven or eight goals in a 3-2 loss in Porto last year, when the hosts recorded a massive xG figure of 7.28.
Scoring goals will be their biggest problem in Germany as hard work and organisation can only cover for a lack of quality in the attacking areas for so long.
A big win for Belgium could be on the cards in Monday’s middle match with a 3-0 final scoreline worthy of support in correct-score betting.
The Red Devils recorded a 3-0 win over Luxembourg in their last friendly and kicked off their Euro 2020 campaign in similar fashion against Russia.
TIP 3 - KYLIAN MBAPPE TO SCORE FOR FRANCE VS AUSTRIA @ 10/13
Some pundits have looked at Kylian Mbappe’s end-of-season form and wondered if he will have as much influence on this tournament as someone of his elevated standing in world football should.
The 25-year-old was left out of the Paris Saint-Germain side on occasions amid one or two injury niggles and didn't finish the season well.
He and PSG were found wanting in Champions League semi-finals against Dortmund before he failed to illuminate the French Cup final.
All that came against the backdrop of his departure from the French club, but he may well have been saving himself for this tournament.
PSG coach Luis Enrique was preparing for life without Mbappe, but Didier Deschamps has built the whole French national team around him and they will supply him with the service he thrives on against avant-garde Austria.
Ralf Rangnick’s side will pose problems for France with their gegenpressing and brave passages of possession in front of their own penalty box, so the anticipated French victory parade may not be a given.
But with 47 international strikes in 79 games for his country, and 11 in 11 starts since his hat-trick against Argentina in the World Cup final, Mbappe remains a great beat to score in any match.
