The first day of punting the rent money on the couch is upon us. 1 game down, 50 to go!

The Saturday slate is as follows:

• 2pm: 🇭🇺 Hungary vs. Switzerland 🇨🇭
  Group A, Round 1
  Referee: Slavko Vincic 🇸🇮 
  Channel: ITV

• 5pm: 🇪🇸 Spain vs. Croatia 🇭🇷

  Group B, Round 1
  Referee: Michael Oliver 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
  Channel: ITV

• 8pm: 🇮🇹 Italy vs. Albania 🇦🇱

  Group B, Round 1
  Referee: Felix Zwayer 🇩🇪
  Channel: BBC One

💰 Punt: Both Teams To Receive 2+ Cards & Over 2 Cards For Both Teams
📗 Bookie: Bet365
🎲 Odds: 2.50 (6/4) & 7.50 (13/2)
⚽️ Game: Hungary vs. Switzerland

After Scotland faced Germany’s wrath and Ryan Porteous’ tackle was rasher than Aldi’s finest bacon medallions in my fridge, a win for either of these two sides in Saturday’s 2pm kick-off should go a long way to securing qualification into the round of 16. If we assume 3 points is going to be enough to secure a spot as a best 3rd placed qualifier.

Hungary racked up 20 yellow cards and 2 red cards in their 8 qualifying games whilst Switzerland picked up 19 yellow cards and 1 red card in their 10 qualification matches.

Referee Slavko Vincic was most recently the man in the middle for the Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. A yellow card that stands out from that game is Nico Schlotterbeck’s in the first half when Vinicius Jr bought a cheap foul (he dived) and Schlotterbeck was booked for getting in the referee’s face, the apparent rule that is set to be applied more frequently going forward & Sabitzer was also booked for showing dissent towards the linesman. Get them dished out and stamp your authority Slavko, lad!

Just look at that card brandishing motion… 😍

Punts: 

• Both Teams To Receive 2+ Cards @ 2.50 (6/4) - Bet365

• Over 2 Cards For Hungary & Over 2 Cards For Switzerland @ 7.50 (13/2) - Bet365

💰 Punt: Rodri Anytime Goalscorer
📗 Bookie: Bet365
🎲 Odds: 8.00 (7/1)
⚽️ Game: Spain vs. Croatia

Rodri took and scored 2 penalties back in the March international break when Spain drew 3-3 with Brazil. Of course it’s clutching at straws thinking they’ll get 2 vs Croatia and Rodri will score them both. But it’s possible…

Rodri is a threat from set-pieces as well as in general play with impressive shooting figures in the last few seasons. An early headed goal from a set-piece and a late penalty to wrap up the victory for his brace. Simple as that, really.

• Rodri To Score Anytime vs Croatia @ 8.00 (7/1) - Bet365

• Rodri To Score Two or More vs Croatia @ 101.00 (100/1) - Bet365

Another betting angle I liked the look of here was Pedri shots with Betfair/Paddy Power. The Barcelona starlet is priced at 3.00 (2/1) for 2 shots and 7.00 (6/1) for 3 shots. In their recent friendly vs Northern Ireland, Pedri was deployed in a more attacking role. For context, he made 11 passes in his 61 minutes on the pitch and had 4 shots, scoring twice. I don’t think he’ll start and it’s likely Dani Olmo is given that attacking midfield role instead, however, it’s one to watch at around 4pm when team news is released.

💰 Punt: Federico Dimarco - Player Of The Match
📗 Bookie: Bet365
🎲 Odds: 26.00 (25/1)
⚽️ Game: Italy vs. Albania

SkyBet and Betfair/Paddy Power’s ‘OPTA Player of the Match’ market is settled completely different and they use Opta’s Player Performance Index to determine which player is their player of the match.

For example, in Germany’s 5-1 demolition of Scotland, Antonio Rudiger won the OPTA Player of The Match with a score of 35.4 points on their index, if you had have backed him on Bet365, your bet would have lost. Jamal Musiala was awarded the UEFA Player of the Match and was the winner of the market with Bet365.

Punt: Federico Dimarco to be Player of the Match @ 26.00 (25/1) - Bet365

Inter Milan’s flying wing-back Federico Dimarco is an absolute joy to watch and does a lot more attacking than defending. He registered 5 goals and 6 assists in 30 games during Inter’s impressive run to the Scudetto in Serie A this campaign. It’s likely he’ll spend a lot of the match as more of a winger high up the pitch against Albania and I think he’s in with a decent shout of picking up the award if he does chip in with a goal or assist. The 26.00 (25/1) odds on offer with Bet365 for Dimarco to be Player of the Match are more than generous in my opinion. Although different settlement between the markets as stated above, Dimarco is 5.00 (4/1) to win the OPTA Player of the Match on SkyBet and Betfair/Paddy Power.

#CheekyPunts

• Over 16.5 Tackles for Hungary and Over 16.5 Tackles for Switzerland @ 11.00 (10/1) - Bet365

• Over 18.5 Tackles for Hungary and Over 19.5 Tackles for Switzerland @ 41.00 (40/1) - Bet365

• Rodri To Score Two or More @ 101.00 (100/1) - Bet365