Tuesday 25th May 2021

In Across the Leagues EXTRA today:

• Euro 2020 coming up fast…
• Squad announcements and Friendly fixtures…
• ‘I love the predictor game…’

Skybet have named the England team…

What did we learn from Gareth Southgate’s England squad announcement today? Not a lot, seeing as it ended up only being a ‘provisional’ 33-man list, rather than the 26-name final cut…

The deadline for the ‘real’ squads is Tuesday, 1st June. That cut-off point is followed by a pair of International Friendly fixtures. And this is where things will really get going:

Wed 2nd June:

England v Austria
Netherlands v Scotland
France v Wales

Sat 5th June:

Wales v Albania

Sun 6th June:

England v Romania
Luxembourg v Scotland

The squad announcements are the first serious Euro 2020 nugget that we’ve seen for a while. The other being the good news that a limited number of fans will be allowed into the venues.

With the Premier League season done & dusted, it feels like we’re ready to head into summer mode now. And this June & July, that means a full-on Major International tournament to look forward to…

With all that’s happened, it’s a long time since World Cup 2018 in Russia. But the three-year hiatus is nearly over. The rearranged Euro 2020 kicks off on Friday, 11th June. I can’t wait…

• Watch this space for details of how YOU can get ALL our stats & advice at Euro 2020. We’ll be releasing a Priority Waiting List very soon….

• I’ve already got the first bet lined up for Euro 2020. It’s a 20/1 shot, and I haven’t seen anyone else talking about this one. All will be revealed if you join the Priority Waiting List when it’s launched. Stay tuned!

Who’s it going to be then, Gareth?

I had originally intended to write to you early this morning about the ‘To make the England Squad’ markets. But after Gareth Southgate made a late alteration to his plans last night, deciding to only name a larger provisional squad rather than the final 26-man list, BetVictor took down their market.

Skybet have got some Specials up this afternoon though. And this list must’ve taken them some time to write up, seeing as they are inviting bets on the ‘Starting XI for England’s First Game’…

If you’re so inclined, you can view all the combinations that Sky have got here. The 14/1 favourite for England’s starting line-up for their opening Group game v Croatia on Sunday, 13th June is:

• Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw, Rice, Henderson, Foden, Mount, Sterling & Kane

I’ll keep an eye out for any revised Squad markets over the next few days. The main talking points at the moment are whether or not defender Trent Alexander-Arnold makes the final cut. With the likes of Ollie Watkins and Mason Greenwood on the fringe of making it onto the final list of attackers…

Before BetVictor took down their market yesterday evening, those three were all odds-against to make the final squad, at around 6/4 (2.5) each. In comparison, there were 28 players at odds-on prices – with only 26 places up for grabs. Something’s got to give, then. You can’t take them all…

‘I love the predictor game…’

With the Premier League finished for the season, it’s time to congratulate this year’s winner of our Predictor league. The £150 cash prize – and much, much more importantly, the glory of being crowned 2020/21 CHAMPION – goes to the player named ‘comeonthegirls’…

Yours truly finished well back, in 129th place. If you beat me – I salute you!

Thanks for playing. It’s been great fun. And it looks like we’ve all enjoyed it…

"Afternoon Oliver, I love the predictor game and play it every week. I managed to finish 43rd, not great but I see it was better than you hahaha, I always look forward to this every time we predict the scores and it's a fun thing to do I hope the Predictor will return for next season All the best mate" – Franny

"Just a quick note to say I really enjoyed taking part in the competition. This was the first year I've taken part. Predicting the right score for matches was much more difficult than I expected and I rarely got more than one score right each round if that. That said I wish they would do away with added time and as all too often my predictions went down the tubes in the last few minutes! ???? I finished in 99th place so just scraped into the top 100. On the last round I see I scored the same (28) as a fellow West Ham supporter, HappyHammer. Thanks and looking forward to next season. I'll try to persuade a couple of friends to join in." – Alan

"Enjoyed this season's competition all the more because it was something to focus on during the lockdown. Hope I scored more points than Mark Lawrenson." – Frederick

If you have any comments, feedback or winning stories to share, please do share them. It'd be great to hear from you.

Email me with ‘Predictor’ in the subject line at: info@oxonpress.co.uk  

P.S
The next email you get from ATL Extra will be an invitation to join our Euro 2020 Priority Waiting List. Including a FREE first bet selection for this summer. And putting you in pole position to hear about our DAILY Euro 2020 members-only service, as soon as the doors open next month. Keep an eye on your emails…

Enjoy the football…

Best wishes,

Oliver Upstone

Across the Leagues Extra