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Euro Betting – Favorites Collide as Fra. Meets Ger.

Zack Garrison

by Zack Garrison in News

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:39 AM PST

France (+175) vs Germany (+190), Draw (+200)

Victims of the tournament draw, the two Euro 2016 favorites, France (4-0-1) and Germany (3-0-2), find themselves set for a semi-final clash at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on Thursday (3:00 PM Eastern). Whoever emerges victorious will head into Sunday’s final as a big favorite over the winner of Portugal/Wales.

Germany were the Euro favorites in most of the build up to the tourney, but a few lackluster friendlies right before the competition got underway saw the hosts from France sneak to the top of the odds.

France didn’t look the part of tournament favorite in most of the Group Stage. They needed late tallies to get by both Romania and Albania and were held scoreless in a draw with Switzerland. They seem to be finding their form at the right time, though. After getting by Ireland (2-1) in the Round of 16, they crushed Iceland’s football rebellion in the quarters with a dominant 5-2 win.

France’s offense finally looked in sync, creating several chances against a strong Icelandic defense. Four different players scored for Les Bleus: Olivier Giroud (12′, 59′), Paul Pogba (20′), Dimitri Payet (43′), and Antoine Griezmann (45′).

The French defense is still a question mark after the Iceland game. It wasn’t really tested in the Group Stage, but looked horrific on both Icelandic goals. That said, the result wasn’t in doubt by the point Iceland got on the board in the second half.

The Germans, like the French, weren’t overly dominant in the Group Stage, winning two (over Northern Ireland and the Ukraine) and playing to one scoreless draw (versus Poland). They, too, cranked the thermostat in the knockout stage, demolishing Slovakia (3-0) and then bouncing arguably the most impressive team of the tournament, Italy, on penalties.

Manager Joachim Low will still feel that his team has yet to play its best soccer, but he has the most talented roster in the tournament and that’s been enough to survive to this point.

Striker Thomas Muller, in particular, has room to improve. The usually prolific goal scorer has yet to get on the scoresheet. If Muller wakes up, Germany may become the unstoppable force that conquered the 2014 World Cup.

France beat Germany a few months ago in a friendly in Paris.  However, the import of this game will lead to a vastly different affair. Betting against a team as good as France at home isn’t usually a great idea, but you’re rarely going to get the opportunity to bet on Germany as an underdog. Take the more talented and tournament-tested Germans to win by a goal.

Pick: Germany (+190). 

(Photo Credit: Global Panorama (Flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/].)

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