UEFA Nations League Sept. 7 Odds & Picks

• The second edition of the UEFA Nations League kicked off on Sept. 3, with 55 national teams competing across four tiers for continental supremacy in 2020-21
• Group A1 action highlights Monday’s slate of matches, with Netherlands facing Italy and Poland squaring off with Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Get all the odds and best bets for Sept. 7 action in the UEFA Nations League below

Some of the heavy hitters in the UEFA Nations League — expected to contend for the crown in the second year of the event — will take to the pitch Monday.

In Group A1, the likes of Netherlands and Italy will consider themselves contenders for the crown currently held by inaugural champions Portugal. Meanwhile, Poland will hope to bounce back from their difficult start in Amsterdam (0-1) on Friday and extricate themselves from a relegation spot.

There are plenty of intriguing Monday matchups for bettors throughout the other three tiers of play, too — with all seven matches set to kick off at 2:45pm ET.

UEFA Nations League Sept. 7 Odds

All odds taken Sept. 5

Pick 1: Austria vs Romania

Austria (1-0-0) have an opportunity to take a stranglehold on Group B1 on Monday, when they will host Romania (0-1-0) in Klagenfurt.

Franco Foda’s Austrian squad earned a 2-1 road win in Norway on Friday, and could go as many as four points clear atop the group — pending the result of N. Ireland-Norway — with a win against their Romanian visitors.

Austria have won seven of their last nine matches; Romania have struggled for both goals and results, and will need more from Reading frontman George Puscas in order to make a promotion push in Group B1.

Center back Martin Hinteregger is expected to miss out via injury for Austria, though with veteran Aleksandar Dragovic and his 81 international caps set to draw into the lineup there shouldn’t be a notable drop-off at the position.

PICK: Austria (-134)

Pick 2: Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Poland

It was Bosnia & Herzegovina (0-1-0) which earned promotion from Austria’s Nations League group in 2018-19, and a credible 1-1 draw on Friday in Italy marked a strong top-flight debut for Dusan Bajevic’s side.

Poland (0-0-1) were felled by a Stephen Bergwijn strike on Matchday 1, and have struggled for goals in recent years against established teams with compact defenses; while B&H is certainly not that — having conceded multiple goals in three of four 2019 matches against first- and second-rate opponents — the struggle for goals will nonetheless be a concern for Jerzy Brzeczek’s side on the road.

Robert Lewandowski is not with the Poland squad for September’s Nations League matches, citing load management with another taxing European season on deck; on the contrary, aging Bosnian talisman Edin Dzeko will feature — fresh off a goal in Italy on Friday.

With Poland’s focus already seemingly shifted to next summer’s EURO, and B&H eager to survive in League A, expect a good effort from the hosts come Monday — even without their usual raucous home support due to COVID.

PICK: Bosnia and Herzegovina (+170)

Pick 3: Netherlands vs Italy

There is no doubt the Netherlands (1-0-0) are to be considered a favorite in this year’s Nations League competition; the talented squad which finished runner-up to Portugal in 2019 has not lost a match since that defeat last June (6-1-0).

The recent form of Italy (0-1-0) is no doubt impressive — a perfect 10-0-0 qualifying run cemented the traditional powerhouse’s place at next summer’s EURO — but Mancini’s squad will be perturbed by the 1-1 home draw against Bosnia on Friday.

With that said, this is a Netherlands team under the direction of caretaker manager Dwight Lodeweges after Ronald Koeman — the architect of the side’s return to prominence over the past two-plus years — departed for the Barcelona managerial post.

Additionally, Italy generated plenty of chances against Bosnia and the negation of home-field advantage should level this matchup between two high-calibre sides significantly.

PICK: Italy pk (+143)