Denmark vs San Marino prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-09-06 18:45.
With only two points separating the top four teams in Group H of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers after four games, third-placed Denmark (seven points) can’t afford a slip-up against the group’s basement side, San Marino, on matchday five. With the group’s top two teams facing each other in this round (Finland and Kazakhstan), the Danes have the possibility of leapfrogging at least one of them with a win here and keeping their hopes of consecutive Euro appearances for the first time since 2004 on track.
Their recent seven-game form (W2, D2, L3) isn’t inspiring, but having won 13 of their last 17 home Euro qualifiers (D3, L1), including the last five, the hosts are likely to enter this contest with a positive mindset. It is the margin of victory that could be just as crucial as the win alone, as the top two sides in the group have aggregated nine goals against the continental minnows.
Being the punching bags of the group is the stark reality for a San Marino side that have won a solitary point over 80 previous Euro qualifiers, including four losses to nil in this qualification campaign. Heavy defeats have indeed become the norm for the lowest-ranked FIFA national team, who have conceded 4.4 goals per Euro qualifier whilst scoring a paltry 0.1 goals per game in the process!
The first-ever H2H comes with the backdrop that La Serenissima have lost their last eight away Euro qualifiers, all without scoring. What’s worse, they have conceded at least four goals in seven of those losses, which puts the focus on reducing the margin of defeat. If there’s any consolation, the visitors have conceded 3+ goals just twice across their last six matches (D1, L5).
Key battle: Having made his “dream debut” for Manchester United in the 3-1 loss to Arsenal at the weekend, Rasmus Højlund will be keen to add to his six Denmark goals already scored in this campaign, including a hat-trick at home to Finland. Keeping him and Denmark at bay could be a monumental occasion for goalkeeper Elia Benedettini, who has only two career clean sheets in 42 matches for San Marino, conceding 3.3 goals per game on average!
Hot stat: Denmark have scored first in nine of their last 11 Euro qualifiers.