International
2025-06-12 - Czechia U21 vs England U21
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Under 21 European Championship Group B
Thursday 12th June 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Preview
A virtual forty year wait for success at Under 21 level was ended by England U21 two years ago and that run all began with a win over Czechia U21 in the opening Group Stage.
Two years later the defending Champions will be looking to begin the attempt to win a fourth Under 21 European Championship by beating the same opponent to begin the Group Stage.
England finished a point ahead of Ukraine U21 in the Qualifying Group and they did win eight of ten Qualifiers with a single defeat suffered. There will be some disappointment that the likes of Jobe Bellingham and Liam Delap are not going to be involved at the Finals as they prepare to play at the Club World Cup instead, but this England squad has plenty of talented players as they look to win consecutive titles at this level just as they did in 1982 and 1984.
One or two members of this squad may even be thinking about pushing into the senior team over the coming months, especially after England's recent performances under Thomas Tuchel. The manager, Lee Carsley, will be giving his insight into what that will take having been interim manager of the senior team last Autumn, and England will go into the tournament as third favourites.
A 4-2 win over Portugal U21 in March ended England's winless run at 3 games, although those fixtures were played against some of the stronger Under 21 nations around.
That is perhaps not the case when they face Czechia, who finished behind Denmark U21 in their Qualifying Group and who only edged into the Play Offs thanks to a superior head to head record with Wales U21. They were relatively comfortable Play Off winners over Belgium U21, but this is a significant step up for Czechia and they do not have the same kind of talent that took them to success at this level in 2002.
Czechia had to come through a Play Off tie to make the 2023 Finals, but they were ultimately eliminated in the Group Stage having lost two of the three fixtures played, including the opener against England.
A respectable 2-2 draw with Spain U21 in March is difficult to ignore, but Czechia were well beaten in their last friendly against Norway U21, a nation that has not made it through to the Finals in Slovakia.
They have also had a difficult time facing England at this level in recent years with four straight defeats to them- not only were Czechia beaten by England in the opening Group match at the Finals two years ago, but they lost twice when in the same Qualifying Group for the 2023 edition of the Under 21 European Championship.
Prediction
There are some key players that are not going to be involved for England U21 at the Finals this June, but there is enough depth to believe they can progress through this Group.
They will certainly feel they have the attacking threat to get the better of Czechia U21 in the opener as England look to defend the title they won two years ago.
Czechia have some talented players and they continue to find a way to reach the Finals, but they are not really as good as the 2002 team that won the trophy. In the Qualifying Group, Denmark U21 beat Czechia 5-0 and the feeling is that England have enough in the final third to match the victory they had over Czechia two years ago.
The Pick :
Czechia U21 0-2 England U21
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back England U21 to Win & Over 1 Total Goal (Bet Builder) at 1.70 with Bet365 (early payout if a team is leading by two goals)
