After a successful 2016 European Championship campaign, Wales are back to the international stage for what is their third-ever international tournament.
Their opening game in Euro 2020, sees them travel to Baku to take on Switzerland in Group A match this Saturday as they look to cause another upset akin to the one that saw them reach the semifinal in Euro 2016.
Stadium: Olympic Stadium (Baku)
Key Statistics
Wales have won just two of their last five matches. Over the course of 20 games, they have won 11, losing just four.
Switzerland are on a six game-winning run. In that period, they conceded only four goals and kept three clean sheets.
Head-to-head
- 7-Oct-11 Wales 2:0 Switzerland
- 12-Oct-10 Switzerland 4:1 Wales
Wales
Euro 2016 surprise team are back in the European Championship again this year, looking to pull up surprises again.
The Dragons took Europe by surprise last time, defeating much stronger nations on their way to the semi-finals before losing to eventual winners Portugal. Although they arrived at the former edition as an unknown quantity, this time, they arrive in Baku with an enhanced reputation and a better FIFA placement.
However, their preparations for this edition has not been smooth as their manager Ryan Giggs is unable to feature in the tournament due to the assault case he has to answer in court.
Also, their form heading into this tie doesn’t make for good reading. They have won just twice in five games and have scored more than once in just one of those games.
However, before that recent run, they went five games unbeaten between October and November 2020, showing that with momentum on their side, they could do a lot of damage. In that period, they won three times and kept four clean sheets.
They will now hope to replicate that form when they travel to Baku as they look to start well and propel themselves up the table.
Possible line-ups
Wayne Hennessey; Joe Rodon, Ben Davies; Neco Williams, Rhys Norrington Davies, Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey; Daniel James, Gerth Bale, Kieffer Moore.
Switzerland
After their seven-nil drubbing of lowly Liechtenstein in their last warm-up game, Switzerland arrive in Baku full of confidence and in better form than their opponents.
Switzerland, who are on a six-game-winning run heading into this tie, are looking to pick all three points in this game to give them an early lead as they aim to finish top of the group table.
Vladimir Petkovic’s side have been one of the more successful teams on the international stage in recent times and are aiming to make the ‘Round of 16’ for a fourth straight major tournament.
They will fancy their chances against their visitors but will have to be in their best shape to get anything from this game, as history has shown that they are usually slow starters.
The Red Crosses have won just one of the opening games of their four European Championship appearances to date (D2, L1). They will hope that things will be different this time and that they can lay down a marker in the early stages of this tournament.
Possible line-ups
Yann Sommer; Fabian Schar, Manuel Akanji, Loris Benito; Granit Xhaka, Denis Zakaria, Jordan Lotomba, Ricardo Rodriguez; Ruben Vargas, Xherdan Shaqiri; Breel Embolo.
Betting Odds
Wales : Draw : Switzerland :: 3.90 : 3.00 : 2.15
| Wales Goal | Switzerland Goal | Betting Odds |
| 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
| 0 | 1 | 6.00 |
| 1 | 1 | 6.50 |
| 1 | 0 | 8.50 |
| 0 | 2 | 9.50 |
| 1 | 2 | 11.00 |
Prediction
Wales 1-1 Switzerland
