The 2020 Men’s European Handball Championships continues today with 2 matches each from Groups A, C and E. Groups A and C conclude today while Group E finishes up on Wednesday. Here are the video links, odds and some predictions for those matches.
How to Watch Spoiler Free: Link
Monday, 13 January
All Times Local (CET) / US ET is -6 hrs)
Odds courtesy of 10Bet
IHF Preview of day’s matches: Link
Group A (Graz, Austria)
18:15 Montenegro vs Belarus (-2.5)
Match Video (On Demand): Link (No Commentary)
20:30 Serbia vs Croatia (-5.5)
Match Video (On Demand): Link (Commentary: Clayton Lucas)
Croatia has already qualified for the main round and Serbia has been eliminated so their match will have no impact. Either Montenegro or Belarus will join Croatia and their match will decide who goes through. Belarus can win or draw while Montenegro needs to win the match.
Group C (Trondheim, Norway)
18:15 Latvia vs Germany (-9)
Match Video ( On Demand ): Link (Commentary: Clayton Lucas)
20:30 Spain (-8.5) vs Netherlands
Match Video ( On Demand ): Link (No Commentary)
On paper no team in Group C has either qualified or been eliminated from going through to the Main Round. But, in reality it would take some pretty surprising results for either Spain or Germany to not qualify. Spain would actually have to lose by 10 to the Netherlands to not qualify. Germany would have to first lose or draw to Latvia and then have the Netherlands beat Spain. Finally, Latvia’s qualification scenario really stretches credibility. They would need a 10 goal win over Germany and a Netherlands loss to Spain.
Group E (Malmo, Sweden)
18:15 Iceland (-3.5) vs Russia
Match Video ( On Demand ): Link (Commentary: Paul Bray)
20:30 Denmark (-6) vs Hungary
Match Video ( On Demand ): Link (Commentary: Paul Bray)
Group E has only played one round, so every side still has something to play for. In fact, after Iceland’s surprising win over Denmark, Denmark actually is essentially in a must win situation vs Hungary.
Betting Predictions
For this tournament we’ll be doing some betting predictions using an imaginary starting bankroll of a 1,000 Euros. Joining me is professional handball bettor, Samo Košmerl, from Slovenia.
John’s Pick(s):
– Current Bankroll: 600 Euros
– Yesterday’s Result: Alternative point spread: Norway (-3.5 goals) vs France; Lost 100 Euros as France put up a good fight losing 28-26. For a moment there at the end when Norway went up 3 I thought my big, break even bet was going to come through… Oh, well.
– Today’s Pick: Belarus (-2.5) vs Montenegro. Bet 100 Euros to win 81.30. I totally concur with Samo (see below) that Belarus is simply the better team here and will advance to the main round. Heck, I’m tempted to go big with an alternative point spread, but I’m still licking my wounds from yesterday. Therefore, I will simply go with the 50-50 point spread.
Samo’s Pick(s):
– Current Bankroll: 1,189.36 Euros
– Yesterday’s Result: Money Line bet Czech Republic (+130) v N. Macedonia; Wager 100 Euros to win 130. Won 130 Euros as the Czech Republic rallied for a 27-25 victory.
– Today’s Picks: Two event parlay; Belarus to win (-370/1.27) vs Montenegro (Tie is no bet) and NL (+10.5 goals) vs Spain (-265/1.37); Wager 100 Euros to win 74 (both outcomes must come through). Belarus is just a better team than Montenegro and should win this match. They just need a point and they will advance to Main Round. The Netherlands is playing solid handball and I also expect Spain will rest some key players as they only need to not lose today by 10 goals and they will advance with 2 points.