Wales National Football Team

Manager / Rob Page
Appointed / August 2019
Captain / Gareth Bale
Top Scorer in Euro 2020 Qualifiers / 3 players on 2 goals (Bale, Ramsey and Moore)
Top Scorer in Squad (Domestic season 2020-21) / Kieffer Moore, 20 (Cardiff, English Championship)
Most Carded in qualifying /  2 players on 3 cards (Dan James and Joe Allen)
Group: A, vs. Switzerland (12/06/2021), vs. Turkey (16/06/2021), vs. Italy (20/06/2021)

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *

Wales Road to Euro 2020

Wales made hard work of qualification to their second-ever European Championship as they managed to just nick second place ahead of Slovakia and Hungary in Group E. Back-to-back defeats to Hungary and Croatia back in the June 2019 international break had left Ryan Giggs’ side in a perilous position, yet a change of style worked very well and now Wales have a chance of replicating their Euro heroics of 2016. Bringing in Cardiff’s Kieffer Moore as a lone target man for the remainder of the qualifying campaign brought an unbeaten end to their Group E exploits and, more importantly, qualification to this tournament by the narrowest of margins. There have been changes, though, with Rob Page taking the managerial reins since Giggs’ arrest in November on suspicion of assault. Page has also reverted to a more-fluid front three in his six games in charge so it will be interesting to see if he opts for Moore up top against the Swiss on June 12 or the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Gareth Bale and Harry Wilson as an interchanging trio.

Turkey Euro 2020 Squad

As mentioned, the issue of who leads the line is the sticking point and the decision between Moore or a false nine has ramifications right through the side, with the likes of Ethan Ampadu and Ramsey likely to see their roles change depending on who Page turns to as his central striker. There is a real depth to this Wales side now, with a lot of the youngsters waiting in the wings more than capable at international level, even if they’re yet to make a mark at senior club level. The likes of Rhys Norrington-Davies, Neco Williams, Ampadu, Matthew Smith, Dylan Levitt and Ruben Colwill are all yet to really impress for their parent clubs yet do form what is a not insubstantial faction of a young squad.

Goalkeeper

Wayne Hennessey will start between the sticks even though he fell well down the pecking order at Crystal Palace and failed to make a single Premier League appearance in the season just gone by. He will hope to become only the second ever Welsh player to get to 100 caps during the tournament, currently sitting just a handful shy of joining Chris Gunter in the century club. Danny Ward had a similarly appearance-shy season as Kasper Schmeichel’s deputy for Leicester, a role he’s used to and will take up for Wales this summer. Stoke’s Adam Davies fills the ‘keepers quota and did feature the most for his club side of the three, though he was far from an undisputed number one for his Championship side.

Defence

James Lawrence’s injury is a big blow to Rob Page as the St. Pauli centre half was an important part of the Welsh backline. His injury-enforced absence does present the likes of Ben Cabango, Williams, Ampadu and Norrington-Davies with an opportunity so it will be interesting to see how Wales’ defence shapes up. They have largely played five at the back over the past few years, but should Page opt to put Ampadu in his defence, then the Chelsea youngster does give his boss the option to switch to a back four with the former Sheffield United loanee more than capable of pushing on into a holding midfield role, the position he’s taken up most recently for his national side. Connor Roberts will have to recover from Play-Off heartache with Swansea to assume the role on the right-hand side of the defence, with Ben Davies the most likely to fill the same role on the opposite flank, though James Lawrence’s absence could see the Spurs full-back deployed as a central defender.

Midfield

The midfield, although relatively young in age, has plenty of international experience with many of the players named having plenty of international caps to their names. Okay Yokuslu, who spent last season on loan at West Brom from Celta Vigo, is the unsung hero in defensive midfield with box-to-box pocket dynamo Ozan Tufan by his side. Yusuf Yazici is the creative spark in the number 10 position and possesses a wonderful left foot and his nonchalant style of play has brought about comparisons with a certain Mesut Ozil. Yazici had a brilliant breakthrough season at Lille with his highlight scoring a sensational hattrick against AC Milan at the San Siro in the Europa League this season. Hakan Calhanoglu despite being just 27 is one of the more experienced members of the midfield with 55 caps to his name. He is a set piece specialist and possesses a truly exceptional right foot. Finally there is the talented Cengiz Under who we saw glimpses of last season during his loan spell with Leicester City. He has an impressive 8 goals in his 26 caps to date and his pace adds an extra dimension to this Turkish side.

Attack

Again, there are question marks of what Wales’ best front three is, though unlike their defence selection dilemmas are through a depth of real quality rather than injury or lack of form. Despite another so-so season at club level, Gareth Bale will be in the starting XI come 12 June and he should be joined by Juventus’ Ramsey. It’s the third spot that’s really up for grabs, though the unlikely dropping into the midfield two of Ramsey would go some way to ease Page’s issues. Dan James, Moore and Wilson have all impressed as part of the front three, with each bringing their own unique skill set to the table. Moore allows Wales to be as direct as possible and is coming off a brilliant individual season for Cardiff, James’ electric pace and work ethic complements Bale and Ramsey well. Wilson has done well as false nine, with his wand of a left foot a nightmare for opposition defences and goalkeepers to defend against. Whichever trio Page decides on, there’s quality that can hurt their group opponents.

Wales predicted line-up vs. Switzerland: Hennessey, C. Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, Davies, Williams, Ampadu, Allen, Ramsey, Bale, James. (5-2-3)

Wales Euro 2020 Betting Tips & Predictions

Despite their obvious and numerous talents up top, Wales are far from free scorers with both Giggs and Page setting them up with a focus on being defensively sound. They’ll be a difficult team for Switzerland, Turkey and Italy to beat in what could be a tight group. Italy should have enough to top the group but I fear Wales may end up falling short behind Turkey and Switzerland and finish bottom of the group, though exiting the tournament far from embarrassed. The managerial situation is far from helpful and I do think their lack of goals could cost them. The margins will likely be very fine, but at 2.38 to finish bottom of Group A, that does look an inviting price for a side with little major tournament experience.

Just two of Wales’s eight Euro qualifiers and one of their six Nations League games have gone Over 2.5 Goals. I fancy this trend to continue into the Euros and even though they’re facing a Turkey side who have been shipping goals for fun, I don’t think they’ll be able to trouble Italy and Switzerland all that much. Their system, while effective, isn’t optimal for goal-laden games as we’ve seen in the lead up to this tournament, and Wales to score Under 2.5 goals at Euro 2020 is an attractive option if you think their goal-shy side will keep up their pre-tournament form.

An outside angle I like is for Connor Roberts to pick up the most Welsh booking points. It’s not the easiest market to navigate as a red card can totally swing things but Roberts did pick up seven yellows in the Championship last season and even though his foul count isn’t overly exciting (0.8 per 90), he will be marking the likes of Lorenzo Insigine, Xherdan Shaqiri and Yusuf Yazici over the three group games which should be a big step for the Championship full-back. He’s available at 13.0 (SkyBet) to pick up more booking points than his team-mates, a decent price for a defender coming off the back of an even more gruelling season than most and facing some tricky opponents.

Predicted stage of elimination: Group Stage

How to watch Turkey v Wales Euro 2020

📅   When / Wednesday, 16 June 2021, 17:00 BST
🏟   Where / Baku Olympic Stadium (Baku)
📺   TV / BBC One, ARD, S4C Digital
📱   Online streaming / bet365