GERMANY VS. HUNGARY
GAME INFORMATION: 3 P.M., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23 AT ALLIANZ ARENA, MUNICH, GERMANY
TV: ESPN
BETTING ODDS: GERMANY -550/HUNGARY +1350/DRAW +650
TOTALS: OVER 3.5 -105/UNDER 3.5 -135
Goals should be the name of the game in Munich now that Germany has discovered its scoring touch. Hungary dug in and held France to just one goal by scoring early and playing defense in their second match, but the Magyars can’t do that this time if they want to have any hope of advancing. Hungary’s equation is very simple: win and they move on to the round of 16, lose or tie and they finish bottom of the group.
Germany, on the other hand, would advance with a tie and can top the group if they win and France doesn’t beat Portugal. That’s out of their hands, but second place and a match with England would be far preferable for Die Mannschaft than having to play Belgium or the Netherlands as a third place team. Plus, Germany should have fresh memories of leaving it late against South Korea at the 2018 World Cup and allowing one mistake to condemn them to last place in their group, which should have them hungry for a big number.
MATCH BET: GERMANY TO WIN AND BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE, +155
Reason: I’ve been low on Germany coming into this tournament, but Die Mannschaft looked like the Germany of old against Portugal. The attack was better than it’s been in several matches, which is why Germany has put itself in position to possibly win this group. That said, Germany’s defense has been rather suspect as of late, as they’ve conceded in 12 of their past 14 matches. Given that Hungary has no choice but to attack, the Magyars should have a good chance to claw back one goal in what should be a comfortable German victory.
SCORE BET: GERMANY 3, HUNGARY 1, +950
Reason: Full disclosure: be VERY cautious with this bet. Correct scores are hard to hit under the best of circumstances, and a match where both sides need to win and get no benefit from a tie is about as bad as circumstances can be for trying to hit a correct score. But if you do want to take the risk, I think this score feels about right, considering both sides will be attacking from the word go.
SIDE BET: OVER 3.5 GOALS, -105
Reason: Both sides have to attack, and both should be comfortable doing exactly that. Hungary has scored in seven of its past eight games and definitely won’t fear Germany’s suspect defense, while Germany is coming off a performance where it put home four on Portugal. With a draw doing Hungary absolutely no good, I expect a good amount of goals in the second half as desperation sets in, leaving Germany plenty of chances to pad their margin.
