June 2021 Sports Preview : England Begin their Title Chase

Last Updated : 29th May, 2021 By Steve A

VENUE

Venues around Europe and America

TIME

1-30 June

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Live on various channels

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If you thought May was a busy month, then just wait until what is in store for you in June. Major football tournaments begin in Europe and South America, there's the French Open tennis and the third golfing major of the year.

Euro 2020 June 29 Preview

The final two last 16 games take place on Tuesday 29 June Who will join Denmark, Italy, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Spain and Belgium in the last eight of Euro 2020?

At 5pm, it's England against Germany at Wembley. England didn't impress a great deal in the group stage unless you like watching paint dry. So many exciting players shoudn't be so dull when playing for England. They only scored two goals in the group stage, well Raheem Sterling did anyway. No goals were conceded which is one good point. England can do so much better but they face a tough task against Germany.

The Germans aren't the force they used to be but regularly come up with the goods in tournaments. They struggled at times in their group and went behind in all three of their matches. The Germans lost to France (already eliminated), beat Portugal (also on their way home) and drew with Hungary (already home). So much for the group of death if Germany follow the rest and get knocked out. They will cause England problems though and we'll find out just how good their defence is. Germany have an ageing defence though and if England can buck their ideas up, they can get a win here. A draw after 90 minutes looks more likely though, with both teams scoring.

Will anyone watch Sweden take on Ukraine in Glasgow? England fans will either be celebrating or drowning their sorrows. Sweden are the form pick to get the win here and progress to the last eight, where either England or Germany will be waiting. The Swedes got seven points when winning Group E and held Spain to a goalless draw. Ukraine lost two of their three group games.

You can get odds of 29/20 at Coral on Sweden beating Ukraine

Copa America

At the time of writing this preview the Copa America tournament was due to be staged in Brazil. Hosting was due to be shared between Argentina and Colombia, then just Argentina but for health reasons it's now taking place in Brazil who are the defending champions. It runs from 13 June to 10 July. Usually this tournament has 12 countries participating. There's the ten South American countries and two guests. That's not the case this time with two groups of five. Only the teams finishing bottom in their group will be eliminated. 

Brazil are in the same group as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. In the other group there's Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile. It's close for favouritism between Brazil and Argentina. The odds have slightly tipped in favour of Brazil now that they are the hosts and bid to win the title for the tenth time.

US Open Championship

This is the third Major of the year with the British Open on its way in July. Big hitting Bryson de Chambeau is the defending champion after winning the 2020 event by six strokes from Matthew Wolff. That made it six wins in a row for American golfers in the US Open. Can that run of success be broken this year or will it be a magnificent seven for the USA? 

The 2021 tournament is being held at the Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego from June 17-20. It's the first time they have staged this tournament since 2008 when Tiger Woods was the winner. So who are the top contenders in 2021? Not Tiger of course, he's still recupertating from his car accident. Rory McIlroy has been climbing back up the world rankings again and ended May in eighth position. With a recent title win under his belt, the 2011 champion could well be a good bet here. Golf is just so unpredictable though, perhaps the hardest sport to get a winner in. Who'd  have tipped Phil Mickleson to win the USPGA in May? Brooks Koepka has shown improved form this year, the same can be said of Jordan Speith. World number one Dustin Johnson is always a threat, but McIlroy looks as if he's preparing best and can win a second US Open title.

Another title for Nadal?

.Rafael Nadal is the favourite to win the French Open yet again. The tournament began on Sunday 30 May and runs until June 13 when the men's singles final is due to be played. Nadal has shown good form in the run up to this Grand Slam with two title wins. He's been beaten by Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev (who struggled in the first round on Sunday) so isn't unbeatable. He has a tough draw though being in the same half of the draw as Novak Djokovic. Stefanos Tsitipas has a good chance of making the final. He's in the bottom half of the draw and already Dominic Thiem has been knocked out in the first round. Nadal looks a good bet though to win yet another French Open  title.