EURO 2016 SEMI-FINAL PREVIEWS – WEDNESDAY JULY 6 – THURSDAY JULY 7

Wales v Portugal – Wednesday 2000

Tournament form:

Wales: Group – 2-1 v Slovakia, 1-2 v England, 3-0 v Russia; Knockout – 1-0 v Northern Ireland, 3-1 v Belgium

Portugal: Group – 1-1 v Iceland, 0-0 v Austria, 3-3 v Hungary; Knockout – 1-0 v Croatia (aet), 1-1 (5-3 on pens) v Poland

Typical tournament odds: Wales 8-1, Portugal 7-2

Typical semi-final match odds: Wales 3-1, Portugal 6-5, Draw 2-1

Leading goalscorers: Wales – Gareth Bale 3, Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo 2, Nani 2

·         Two of the less fancied sides from the start of the tournament meet here, but obviously one will progress at least one stage further to the final. Portugal are still to win inside 90 minutes, but after sneaking through their group as one of the best third placed teams, are they peaking at the right time? Although they needed penalties to beat Poland, they dominated the 120 minutes of action. For Wales the dream lives on, and for all the good football they played in beating Belgium, it has to be acknowledged that the Belgian defence was much weakened. The absence of the suspended Ben Davies and Aaron Ramsey will be keenly felt by a squad that lacks strength in depth, and maybe Portugal will shade this one.

France v Germany – Thursday 2000

Tournament form:

France : Group – 2-1 v Romania, 2-0 v Albania, 0-0 v Switzerland; Knockout – 2-1 v Ireland, 5-2 v Iceland

Germany: Group – 2-0 v Ukraine, 0-0 v Poland, 1-0 v Northern Ireland; Knockout – 3-0 v Slovakia, 1-1 (6-5 on pens) v Italy

Typical tournament odds: France 7-4, Germany 7-4

Typical semi-final match odds: France 7-4, Germany 2-1, Draw 2-1

Leading goalscorers: France – Antoine Griezmann 4, Germany – Mario Gomez 2

·         France’s potent forward line comes up against Germany’s rock solid defence, so who will prevail? Antoine Griezmann, Dimitri Payet and Olivier Giroud have collectively scored 10 of France’s 11 goals in the tournament, and each player also has two assists, so they really are working well together. Germany will be without the injured Mario Gomez, their only player with more than one goal to his name. However, the Germans are yet to concede from open play, and a closer look at the stats from the France-Iceland match shows that while France were comfortable winners by any measure, they only just shaded the goal attempts, with Iceland having 11 shots of their own. If France allow Germany anything like this number here, then they will surely struggle.