Norway put on quite a show on Thursday in their Euro 2022 opener as they comfortably beat Northern Ireland 4-1 at St Mary’s to give the Scandinavians a perfect start to the tournament.
Three Women’s Super League stars were on the scoresheet for Norway, Julie Blackstad (Manchester City), Frida Maanum (Arsenal) and Guro Reiten (Chelsea). Barcelona winger Caroline Graham Hansen scored the other.
Norway showed their class on the south coast with a performance worthy of earning them the dark horses label and the gulf in class between them and Northern Ireland, who were making their first competitive appearance on the European stage, was clear. The stadium erupted, however, when 37-year-old Julie Nelson scored the country’s first ever goal in European competition which was a great moment to see.
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As we look ahead to day three of the tournament, we are treated to two interesting matches from Group B, widely known as this year’s group of death. The first game of the day sees one of the tournament favourites Spain take on Finland at Stadium MK. Everyone is waiting to see how they handle themselves in their first match since losing star player Alexias Putellas to injury. Boss Jorge Vilda has said that his side won’t change their style despite the huge loss.
Spain have never won a major tournament but they have reached the quarter-finals stage at the previous two tournaments and many bookmakers have tipped them as the favourites to lift the trophy in England. Betfred are offering EVS on this match to have over 3.5 goals*.
The second game of the day sees record seven-time winners Germany host 2017 finalists Denmark at the Brentford Community Stadium. There is a lot of pressure on both these sides as like Spain, they are also tipped among the favourites to taste European glory. Denmark will be looking to their all-time leading goalscorer and the world’s most expensive player Pernille Harder to get them off to a flying start in London. Betfred have priced Denmark as 9/2 to beat the record-holders on Friday.*
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
