It’s playoff time in the European Football Championship. The first matches will be played on 29 June: Switzerland – Italy and Germany – Denmark. On 30 June, two more eight-final matches will be played: England – Slovakia and Spain – Georgia.

If it is not unexpected to see England in the eight-finals, Slovakia has already achieved its goal. Interestingly, in the Slovak group, all four teams have four points each. Ukraine finished last with four points, the first time in the Euros history that a team has missed the playoffs with four points.

It’s not a surprise that England made it to the Top 16, but the team’s play needs to be highlighted, which is not the best.

England beat Serbia 1-0 in their first match at EURO 2024, but the other two group matches were very poor. 1-1 against Denmark and 0-0 against Slovenia. The goal of finishing first in the group was achieved, but the level of football should be a cause for concern.

There is no doubt that England will shift into a higher gear when the playoffs start. This team can’t play any worse. It should also be noted that England have a relatively easy playoff path, with Austria/Turkey, Romania/Netherlands, and Switzerland/Italy waiting to reach the final.

These are far less threatening than the other side of the playoffs, where Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, and Belgium will play.

England must take advantage of this great opportunity to get back to the finals, and the match against Slovakia will be a good place to start. Seeing the rather unsuccessful England matches, the bookmakers give a relatively low goal total for this match.

2.25 means that if two goals are scored in a match, half the bet will be returned, and half will be lost. 3 goals are required for a successful bet. Can there be that many in a match? Definitely yes.

Slovakia managed to keep the match scoreless against Belgium, but Belgium was unlucky. In their last match, they lost 1:2 against Ukraine and 1:1 against Romania. England’s games have been sparse in terms of goals, but there is so much talent in the attack that any game can be a goal-scoring affair.

If we look at EURO 2020, England were also unsuccessful in the groups 1-0, 0-0, and 1-0. Meanwhile, the playoffs started with a 2-0 win over Germany and a 4-0 win over Ukraine.

Although the Slovakian defence may look pretty good, England’s attacking capabilities are among the best in the tournament. We can expect to see a very different game when the big games start. It would not be surprising to see 3 goals from England, who are considered favourites.

This EURO 2024 prediction is for guidance only and we are not responsible for your bets.