Football Superstar Jonatan Johansson Free Predictions Euro 2016

1.      Germany

 

The World Champions are always a force and one of the favourites to win the whole tournament, but are they as good as they were in Brazil two years ago?

 

Germany have been experimenting with their starting line up in recent friendlies and has had some mixed results. They have lost against both England and Slovakia at home but destroyed Italia, beating them 4-1. They also lost against both Poland and Republic of Ireland during the qualification campaign, so there is maybe more question marks than usual surrounding the German team.

 

Joachim Low has picked a lot of experienced players and there are some worries on the fitness of both Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Neither player have played a lot for their clubs this season. 

 

Germany usually plays a 4-2-3-1 system and the role of the centre forward is so important. Miroslav Klose was the perfect player for this system and I don't think Germany has found anyone to replace him. Klose retired from International football after the World Cup win and it will be interesting to see how Low will start.

 

 It will probably be Mario Goetze who will start up front, but Low could also play Thomas Muller as forward instead of his usual position behind the striker. Muller is key man for Germany ‘s offensive play, he has an amazing ability to always be in the right place at the right time and has already scored 32 goals for his country.

 

The magic will be provided by Arsenal's Mezut Ozil, his season with his club was inconsistent but at best he is one of the top passer of the ball.

 

A player to watch is Mats Hummels, the defender moved to Bayern Munchen this summer and he is for me  the best defender in the world right now. Have a look at his range of passing, it is fantastic.

 

VonBets.com odds to win the tournament: 4.45

 

2.      POLAND

 

Europe's most improved national team in the last few years Poland is teamed up in the same group as Germany, they also qualified from the same group so the two teams know each other well. I think they both will go through from this group as well.

 

Pawel Wszolek, the winger that scored twice against Finland earlier on this year missed to squad through injury and will be missed, but a lot of Poland's success this summer depends on the fantastic Robert Lewnadowski. He scored 13 goals in the qualifying group, equaling the all time record and if he can keep his amazing form on Poland can go far.

 

The Poland team is very disciplined and hard working, and the Polish fans will turn out in their thousands for the games making Poland a difficult opponent.

 

VonBets.com odds to win the tournament: 33.00

 

3.      UKRAINE

 

Ukraine qualified through the play-offs beating Slovenia 3-1 over the two legs. The most important players for Ukraine in the last few years are the wingers Andryi Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka.

 

The manager Mykhaylo Fomenko plays a disciplined defensive 4-2-3-1 system, putting a lot of emphasis on counter attacks. It has work well for him, Ukraine have won four of the last five games with Yarmolenko scoring four goals. He will surely get a big move if he does well in this competition, the Dynamo Kiev player is very sought after by Europe's top clubs, he was also top scorer in their qualifying group with six goals in the ten games.

 

VonBets.com odds to win the tournament: 50.00

 

4.      NORTHERN IRELAND

 

Northern Ireland is a team I know very well, we played against them in the same group with Finland. They are a very well drilled, old fashioned 4-5-1 football team. The manager Michael O'Neill uses his squad very well and he has made his players believe in themselves and his philosophy.

 

He has a very settled starting line-up so there will be no surprises here. That's why it is very important that Northern Ireland don't pick up any injuries to key players, they don't have the depth in their squad to replace top players.

 

Kyle Lafferty plays up front on his own and he has been producing the best football for his national team. He will be supported from midfield by playmaker Steven Davies of Southampton. The midfield is hard working and very aggressive. Any time the ball is lost they run back quickly to help their defense, if they have to they give away a freekick to have time to organize themself.

 

The two central defenders, West Bromwich pair Jonny Evans and Gareth McCauley, are towers and both experienced Premier League players. Together with full back Chris Baird, Northern Ireland are very good on set plays. They actually scored most goals from set plays in the qualifiers of all European teams, nine out of their 16 goals was scored from set plays.

 

Northern Ireland are qualified for the first time, so the fans will be right up for this and I do hope they will do well. I think this is one of the tougher groups so I would be surprised if they manage to go through.

 

VonBets.com odds to win the tournament: 120.00

 

GROUP D

 

Here are my predictions for Group D, with the reigning European champions Spain as my top bet to win the group. Who will join them in the next round?  The other three teams are all capable of taking second place in a very tight group.

 1.      SPAIN

 

Won Euro 2012 by beating Italy in the final by 4-0, the question is: Can Spain do it again?

 

The team is very similar to the one four years ago and this is not always a good thing, experience is of course vital but the players are also four years older and maybe not as hungry as they were in 2012. This was evident in the World Cup two summers ago when Spain failed to qualify from the group stages of the tournament.

 

Spain is still a great team and of course one of the favourites to win the Euros again. They cruised through the qualifiers with nine wins from ten games and the manager Del Bosque has been there and done that many times before, so he will know how to prepare and line up his team to win games. I think Spain will win this group and progress to at least the semis.

 

The most important area for Spain is the attack, they need someone to finish all the possession they surely will have in games. Fernando Torres, David Silva and Diego Costa have all done it in the past and now it is time for someone else to step up to the plate.

 

Is this going to be Alvaro Morata? The Juventus striker is coming off a good season and scored two goals in Spain's last friendly game against South Korea.  He has the pace and confidence to do it, but has yet to make his big breakthrough for the national team.

 

Defensively Spain is very experienced and solid and with David DeGea in goals they won't be losing many goals. The goalkeeper is rumoured to be on his way to Real Madrid and that would be a real loss for Manchester United. He has been the best player for them over the last few seasons.

 

VonBets.com odds to win the tournament: 5.20

 

 2.      CROATIA

 

I think Croatia will have a good tournament here, it is a very tight group and it might go down to goal difference which team will finish second.

 

Croatia's success depends on their midfield duo, Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic and Real Madrid's Luka Modric, together they are as good as any other pairing in these championships.

 

Up front I think they will start with Fiorentina's Nikola Kalinic. He scored 12 goals in Serie A this season but hasn't been as prolific for his country so this is a good time to start producing the goods.

 

Croatia have the experienced Mario Mandzukic as a back up. He has scored 20 international goals already and showed he has still got it for Juventus, bagging 10 goals this season in only 24 appearances.

 

VonBets.com odds to win the tournament: 18.00

 

3.      The Czech Republic

 

The Czech Republic and Turkey qualified from the same group to the Euros and I think they will fight it out for the 3rd and 4th positions in this group.

 

The Czech team is sweating over the fitness of the experienced Tomas Rosicky, the 35 year old Arsenal player was picked in the squad although he only played 19 minutes! of football in the Premier League this season. He is a leader and motivator in this team and it is important to the younger players to have him in the squad.

 

The most important player for me is Arsenal's keeper Petr Cech. The former Chelsea legend still plays with his trademark protective helmet, and he was one of Arsenal's best players this season. He needs to be on top form because the Czechs give away a lot of chances and goals. In the qualifiers the lost 14 goals, more than any other of the qualifying teams.

 

Czech Republic have one of the oldest squads in the Euros with an average age of almost 29.

 

VonBets.com odds to win the tournament: 42.00

 

4.      TURKEY

 

Turkey qualified to this tournament as the best placed third team behind Iceland and the Czech Republic. They were in real trouble in that group but three straight wins in their last three games, including a vital 3-0 home win against Holland ensured qualification.

 

Turkey is capable on their day to play some good football and as always they are very passionate on the pitch. If they have a good start, confidence will be high and then they have an outside chance to go on and even qualify. The Turkish support is legendary and this will be evident again here in France.

 

Unfortunately for Turkey, I think the lack of any real star players will show here and they will go home early.  The talented Arda Turan is the big star, but match fitness might be a problem. The Barcelona midfielder only started 9 games this season for the La Liga winners. An exciting prospect is the 18 year old Emre Mor. The Nordsjalland striker was included in the squad after only playing 45 minutes of full international football and is the rising star of Turkish football.

 

VonBets.com odds to win the tournament: 42.00