Not long ago, Arsenal fans could find someone to cheer for in virtually every European Championships game.
Times have changed. Since Mesut Ozil retired from the German national team over racism allegations, Arsenal fans haven’t had too many high-profile players to cheer for when watching other countries.
While Arsenal’s foreign contingent is still one of the strongest in the Premier League, the fact is many of those players come from outside Europe. As for Arsenal’s European contingent, many of them aren’t playing regularly for their national teams. With that said, Arsenal fans should still keep their eyes on these players when considering Euro 2020 odds.
Matteo Guendouzi, France
French coach Didier Deschamps has overlooked Matteo Guendouzi and Alexandre Lacazette for national team spots of late, although Guendouzi sat on the bench in last week’s 4-1 qualifying win over Albania. With that said, these two players are the likeliest in Arsenal’s squad to win Euro 2020. France is currently sitting equal-top of Group H in Euro 2020 qualifying and is the favourite to win Europe’s biggest prize.
According to the latest Euro 2020 betting odds from Betfair, France is paying 7/2 to win Euro 2020, ahead of second-placed England, 9/2. As for qualifying, France is 1/9 to win its group, ahead of Turkey 6/1, and Iceland, 11/1.
Granit Xhaka, Switzerland
The only other non-English Gunner with a realistic chance of holding the Euro 2020 trophy is, of course, Granit Xhaka. Xhaka had a memorable 2018 FIFA World Cup, even scoring in a group-stage win over Serbia. His Swiss team is set to once again pose a major threat to the big teams.
Switzerland is likely to progress to the expanded 24-team Euro 2020 tournament. Currently, it is the favourite to win Group D and is paying 5/6, ahead of Denmark, 13/8, and the Republic of Ireland, 4/1. As for Euro 2020 odds, Switzerland is on the 10th line of betting and is paying 50/1, behind Croatia, 25/1, and ahead of Wales, 66/1.
Sead Kolasinac, Bosnia and Herzegovina
For a couple of years, Bosnia Herzegovina had a genuinely good football team. Unfortunately for Arsenal’s cherished left-back Sead Kolasinac, it appears those days are over and the Bosnians look likely to miss out on Euro 2020.
With more than half the group-stage matches completed, Bosnia and Herzegovina is languishing in fourth spot in Group J, with 7 points, 5 points adrift of second-placed Finland and a spot in Euro 2020. As such, its odds of winning Euro 2020 are now 150/1, putting it on a par with Romania and Slovakia.
At least Arsenal can look forward to Kolasinac having some time off to rest and recuperate next summer!
Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Greece
Speaking of rest and recuperation, Sokratis Papastathopoulos will have plenty of that next summer because his Greek national team won’t be participating at Euro 2020. Greece, whose Euro 2004 win remains fresh in the memory, is in the same qualifying group as Bosnia, and is currently fifth with just 5 points.
According to the latest Euro 2020 title odds, Greece is a 200/1 chance to win the tournament, putting it on a par with Slovenia, Norway, Northern Ireland, and Israel. Nobody believes Greece can qualify for – let alone win – the tournament. But then again, nobody would have given the Greeks even the slightest chance ahead of Euro 2004 – and then they went on and won the entire thing.
Arsenal’s other Greek connection, Konstantinos Mavropanos, has made 4 appearances for the Greece under-21 team but has yet to receive a call-up to the senior national team.
