The last 16 of Euro 2024 concludes on Tuesday with two potentially box office-winning matches.
First up, we have Romania, one of the surprise teams, and the Netherlands, who are under a lot of pressure after getting such a great chance in the draw.
It would be a disappointing result for the Netherlands if they do not advance to the semi-finals.
The second match of the afternoon may not feature a traditional football powerhouse, but Austria and Turkey are two of the most entertaining teams in the group stage of Germany 2024 and both will see this as a golden opportunity to complete a historic run at a major tournament.
It’s shaping up to be a great afternoon of football, so place your bets.
Romania vs Netherlands predictions
(12pm ET)
One of the surprise teams of the tournament, Romania is heading into the match on their own dime, having beaten Slovakia, Belgium and Ukraine out of their group stage, but with the Netherlands currently in poor form and a threat of an upset, Romania will be eager to make the most of their chance.
Moreover, Romania’s blueprint for group stage success could certainly work in the knockout stages: despite being a clear underdog against Ukraine in their opening match, Romania sat deep, locked down defensively and seized every opportunity to counter a weak transition defense.
While the Netherlands are certainly on a different level to Ukraine, Nicole Stanciu’s Romania’s organised defence and lethal counter-attacks give them a chance to overwhelm the Clockwork Oranje in this match.
I expect the Romanians to deploy this strategy so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Dutch take a cautious approach when in possession of the ball to avoid going the other way.
This will be a chess match and should remain a draw throughout the 90 minutes.
Recommendation: 90-minute draw (+350, BetMGM).
Austria vs Turkey Predictions
(3pm ET)
These two teams thrive in chaos and it’s hard to imagine them changing their ways in this matchup.
Coach Ralf Rangnick’s Austria have made it clear that they will play their own game, no matter who they are playing against. They are looking to press hard, win the ball high up the pitch and create goal-scoring chances. The result has been three very exciting matches with plenty of goals and chances.
Turkey doesn’t have as organised an approach as Austria, but the Crescent Stars have plenty of playmaking talent, especially Arda Güler (aka the Turkish Messi), who can change the course of a game in the blink of an eye.
Turkey have struggled in their previous three matches against Georgia, Portugal and the Czech Republic, and it would be a surprise if they don’t achieve the same result here.
It’s hard to tell when this game will go off the rails, but once the first goal is scored, there will surely be many more to follow.
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In the tournament, only two teams, Austria and Turkey, managed to score a total of 10 goals (scored and conceded) in their group stage matches.
This seems like a great opportunity to try a different total or sprinkle in some accurate scores like 4-2.
Recommendation: Over 4.5 goals (+630, FanDuel).
