Euro 2020: Denmark vs Wales match preview- team news, lineups

Following the traumatic incident involving Christian Eriksen which happened in Denmark’s opening match of Euro 2020, the Danes have made a miraculous comeback and have salvaged their tournament by reaching the knockout stages of the Euros.

The one time Euros champions will be facing the relative newcomers Wales, in what will undoubtedly be an exciting match between 2 underdogs of this tournament. The Danes will be looking at their great squad of players and the Welsh at their superstars like Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale to deliver in this match. Who’ll prevail as the winners in the end remains to be seen but let us get down to all the nitty gritty details about the match, now that the stage is set.

Denmark vs Wales Preview

The two teams meet each other for the 11th time while none of their last 10 meetings have ended in a draw. One way or another this match has to have a winner too but first let’s see how these two teams got here:

Denmark

Denmark qualified for the Euros through Group D alongside Switzerland and above the likes Republic of Ireland, Georgia and Gibraltar. Their top goal scorer in the qualifying stages was Christian Eriksen with 5 goals, who suffered a cardiac arrest in their first of the Euro 2020 and was just recently released from the hospital.

28 years after their first and only European Championship,

headed into the Euro 2020 as one of the hosts and with a well-balanced squad led in attack by Christian Eriksen. However once the tournament started, things quickly took a left turn. But more on that later.

Wales

Wales is a relative newcomer when it comes to the Euros. This is only the second time that they have qualified for the European Championship, with the first time being in Euro 2016. They were the surprise of the tournament last time around as they made it into the semi-finals, courtesy of the players like

and

.

In fact, both players play a big part in

’ squad for this tournament and they helped the Dragons qualify for the Euro 2020 above the likes of Slovakia and Hungary and alongside Croatia. Ramsey, Bale and Kiefer Moore were their best goal scorer in the qualifying stages with 2 goals each.

Form Analysis

Now let’s assess the Denmark and Wales’ current form and their squad situation going into this match:

Denmark

Prior to the start of the Euro 2020, Denmark had won 9 and lost 2 of their 13 post-pandemic games. Despit not having a squad full of great players, Denmark’s history in the competition, host status and great form made them before the Euros made them one of the teams to watch in the tournament.

But they started the tournament with a nightmare of a game, in which their star player, Christian Eriksen had a cardiac arrest on the pitch just before the half-time. Eriksen fortunately recovered a few days later but Denmark had to finish that game and eventually lost to Finland 1-0.

They lost their second game too. This time against heavy favorites Belgium, despite first going 1-0 up and giving an overall good performance in the game. However, they forgot all their woes in the last game as they thrashed Russia 4-1 and secured the 2nd spot behind Belgium with only 3 points.

Wales

Wales had a much more turbulent time heading into the Euros. They had won only 7 of their last 13 matches post-pandemic and had lost 3. Not to mention the fact that their head coach, Ryan Giggs, was charged with assault and was subsequently fired from his position months before the tournament.

However, Wales’ Golden Generation, led by Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale, once again delivered and they were able to gather 4 points from their first two matches against Switzerland and Turkey. Despite their loss to Italy in the final match, Wales’ 1-1 draw against Switzerland and 2-0 win against Turkey was enough to make them qualify in 2nd place after Italy.

Denmark vs Wales - Head-to-head in all competitions

The two teams have met on the pitch 10 times prior to this match, with Denmark having a slight edge by winning 6 matches and losing the other 4. Only two of these meetings have been friendly games.

The last times these two teams played each other was in the UEFA Nations League where Denmark got the better of the Wales in both fixtures by winning both matches.

Line-ups and Formations

After losing Eriksen and underperforming in their opening match, Denmark switched to a 3-man defense which has worked out quite well for the so we suspect they will be going with that same 3-4-2-1 formation in this mach as well. Christian Eriksen is Denmark’s only absentee and wthout their Talisman, Denmark’s possible starting line-up will consist of: Schmeichel; Mæhle, Vestergaard, Kjær, Christensen, Wass; Højbjerg, Delaney; Poulsen, Damsgaard, Braithwaite.

Wales however, will probably play with a 4-5-1 formation with Moore as their sole striker. However the main focus of attack will be on the wings rather than through the middle, with players like James and Bale on Wales’ flanks. Ethan Ampadou will be the only absentee in their squad due to the red card he received in the game against Italy and without him Wales’ possible starting line-up will consist of: Ward; Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, B Davies; Morrell, Allen; Bale, Ramsey, James; Moore.

Players to Watch

Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey will be two obvious players to watch in Wales’ squad, having played a big role in getting Wales to this stage. Bale in particular was excellent against Turkey as he stepped up big time and proved what a great player and also leader he is. Daniel James is also another player to look out for in Wales’ squad. the pacey United winger will no doubt cause Denmark problems on the flanks.

Denmark on the other hand will be looking to their experienced players for inspiration, Schmeichel, Kjaer and Hojberg will be the ones to lead Denmark in this match. While Demsgaard will be looking to build up on his excellent performance against Russia and deliver creativity and goals for Denmark.

Prediction

While the two teams are quite similar in terms of strength, Denmark’s slightly better squad and their long history in the competition will most likely give them an edge going into this match. Although Wales will no doubt put up a good fight and there is always a chance of Gareth Bale performing a miracle. Despite this, we believe that this match will be a close one with Denmark coming out on top with the smallest of margins. We’re going for a 2-1 victory for Denmark.

Denmark vs Wales Referees

The German referee, Daniel Siebert will be officiating the match. Siebert has been a Bundesliga referee since 2012 and is one of the more inexperienced referees in Euro 2020 with only 9 international games in his resume. The 37-year-old Siebert has been FIFA listed since 2015 and he has had experience refereeing near 200 Bundesliga 1 and 2 matches.

The German duo of, Jan Seidel and Rafael Foltyn, will be assisting Siebert on the pitch with the fourth official being the famous Romanian Ovidiu Hategan. Bastian Dankert from Germany will be serving as the match’s Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and he is accompanied by Marco Fritz, Christian Dingert and Christian Gittelmann.

Viewing Information

• Date: Thursday, June 26

• Kick off Time: 18 pm GMT

• Location: Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands

• TV: BBC One (UK), ESPN (US)

• Live stream: FuboTV

• Odds: Sweden +425; Draw +225; Denmark -120 (Draftkings)

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