Wales take in just their third-ever major tournament and after finishing as semifinalists back in 2016, making it out of Group A this time starting with a way past Switzerland could be a task some way too difficult.
European Championship 2020
Date: 12/06/2021
Kick-off: 14:00 pm
Venue: Baku Olympic Stadium
Rob Page is tasked with leading the Welsh past a group containing the likes of Italy, Turkey and their opposition on the day, Swiss and we reckon it will not be easy.
Finishing as runner-ups to Croatia during the qualification series, Wales have won four and drawn once during a six-game stint since Page temporarily replaced regular head coach Ryan Giggs, with their sole loss (3-1) coming against Belgium in a World Cup qualifier.
A couple of unsavoury prep. games aside, We might say Wales have the momentum but they do not have the history against the Swiss. Since they first clashed back in 1949, Wales have won just two of the seven head-to-heads, and have lost the other five.
Switzerland, on their part arrive Baku on the back of a strong form which saw them qualify for this tournament for second time in a row, finishing top of a group which had Denmark and the Republic of Ireland.
They accrued six straight victories in all competitions leading up to this match, but they know the 7-0 trouncing of Liechtenstein like they did last time out will be very hard to replicate here.
Team news
Wales
Page will hope the effervescence of his stars the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, Dan James come to fore here, and thankfully he have a complete pool to pick from as they try to get off to a great start.
Switzerland
The Swiss might not look a hoard of talent, but they do have a strong squad not readily easy to break down. Prominent amongst them are the likes of goalkeeper Yann Sommer, and centre-backs Nico Elvedi and Manuel Akanji while Xerdan Shaqiri provides decent attacking nous.
Team form
Wales last five matches: LWWLD
Switzerland last five matches: WWWWW
Match stats
The last time Gareth Bale scored was Wales was in October 2019, (a 1-1 v Croatia) That’s a run of 11 games since then.
Switzerland have won just one of the opening games of all of their four European Championship appearances to date (W1, D2, L1).
Betting tips
It could be hard picking a victor from this one, but we like to think goals will be a thing here. Both sides are seemingly prepared enough to go for it, and many bettors could even fancy backing Wales.
Bale and Ramsey were on target the last time these sides met in 2011, a game which ended 2-0. The former at 11/4 to score anytime presents a decent valuable choice pick on the goalscorers market.
You can view all other betting markets for this game here
Odds subject to change – 18+|BeGambleAware.org – Please gamble responsibly
