Euro 2008: Switzerland v Czech Republic Match Preview

By Football Daft at 6 June, 2008, 8:03 am

UEFA EURO 2008 GROUP A
Date: Sat 7th June
Kick-off: 1700 BST
Venue: St Jakob-Park, Basel
Highlights: Euro 2008 coverage is available here at Love Footy. We will have all the Euro 2008 highlights, goals and live streaming right here starting with Switzerland Vs Czech Republic tomorrow. Highlights will be available here.

Match Preview and Facts

Switzerland have received a boost ahead of their opening Euro 2008 match against the Czech Republic with the return of Tranquillo Barnetta to training this week. The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder has had a recent ankle problem but he says he is ready to play and is feeling good overall although he has admitted to feeling a little tentative still when going into tackles. Experienced Swiss defender Patrick Muller looks set to miss out tomorrow despite playing in two recent friendlies. The defender missed all of last season with a knee injury.

Czech defender Marek Jankulovski who was a key part of the Czech Republic’s solid defence in qualifying has declared himself fit for tomorrows match after a knee injury. Inspirational captain Tomas Ujfalusi is struggling due to a problem with an abdominal muscle and right back Zdenek Pospech is out with a virus.

These 2 sides have met each other on 30 different occasions with the Czech Republic winning twice the amount of games of Switzerland. The Czechs have won 16 of the 30 encounters compared to Switzerland’s 8. Switzerland failed to win in all of their 6 previous European Championship matches but they haven’t conceded a competitive goal since 16th November 2005 when they lost 4-2 to Turkey in a World Cup qualifier. The Czech Republic conceded the fewest amount of goals in qualifying for Euro 2008 along with France and the Netherlands conceding just 5 goals.

Love Footy Match Prediction

On paper you would have to say that the Czech Republic are the stronger side and they have a good record in the European Championships. They have only won the competition once but they always seem to be in and around there once the semi finals come. Switzerland on the other hand are the hosts and will have the advantage of the home support. The Swiss have made remarkable improvements in recent years and they won’t let the Czech’s take this match easily that is for sure. However, the Czech Republic only conceded 5 goals in the whole of their qualifying campaign so it is no secret that they are a hard side to get past. I don’t think Switzerland have enough fire power to trouble the Czech Republic goal as much as they need to, to win the game so i predict a Czech Republic victory. 2-1 to the Czech Republic, possibly 3-1.