France 9/5 To Top Group D

Mon 11th – Tue 18th: In our Group D preview, France are 9/5 (Boylesports) to win the group and England are 7/4 to crash out.

GROUP D

Co-hosts Ukraine will be feeling the pressure to progress from Group D (7/5 with Ladbrokes) in their first ever appearance at a European Championships and talisman Andriy Shevchenko carries the weight of national expectation. The Dynamo Kiev striker has recovered from injury in time to play but Ukraine look set to struggle and the legendary striker looks good at 8/1 with Coral to top score for his team, large when you consider he might only need a brace to achieve it. Stan James quote a decent looking 11/5 about Oleh Blokhin’s men finishing bottom of the group, a price surely inflated by the ‘home nation factor’, while Sportingbet put 11/2 about them achieving a solitary point from three games.

Star Man: Andriy Schevchenko

Prediction: Group Stage

Fixtures:
June 11 – Sweden
June 15 – France
June 19 – England

Odds: 50/1 (Stan James) outright, 5/1 (bet365) to win group.

Best Bet: Ukraine to finish bottom of Group D – 11/5 (Stan James)

Sweden head to the tournament as the bookies’ outsiders in Group D and indeed amongst the fringe teams the tournament as Blue Square put 80/1 on them to win. It’s just 4/9 with Coral that Erik Hamren’s troops drop out at the group stages and historians will point out they did just that in 2008 and 2000 but four years ago they were undone by an injury time winner from Spain’s David Villa and they will feel they can squeeze through this time. The Swedes recorded an excellent win over the Netherlands last October and then lost narrowly at Wembley so Boylesports’ 2/1 about them progressing looks a touch high but should they head to the quarters, a tough game awaits so bet365’s 3/1 about Sweden being eliminated in the last eight holds appeal.

Star Man: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Prediction: Quarter Finals

Fixtures:
June 11 – Ukraine
June 15 – England
June 19 – France

Odds: 80/1 (Blue Square) outright, 11/2 (Ladbrokes) to win group.

Best Bet: To be eliminated in the quarter finals – 3/1 (bet365)

France, the 2000 Champions, have been rebuilt by Laurent Blanc since a disastrous 2010 World Cup and Les Bleus are now eighteen games unbeaten, including wins against England, Brazil and Germany. They come into the tournament as 12/1 shots with Paddy Power and genuine contenders to go far. They have to be considered to win Group D at 9/5 (via Boylesports) against three inferior teams and Sportingbet make them 9/1 to pick up three wins. France stand a chance against any team who finish runner-up in Group C (presumably behind Spain) but would encounter tough semi final opponents so bet365’s 5/1 on them to be eliminated in the semis holds appeal. A potential front line of Loic Remy, Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Franck Ribery has bags of talent and while Benzema is 7/2 with Blue Square to top score for his nation, it’s Franck Ribery who is the man to make them tick.

Star Man: Franck Ribery

Prediction: Semi Finals

Fixtures:
June 11 – England
June 15 – Ukraine
June 19 – Sweden

Odds: 12/1 (Paddy Power) outright, 9/5 (Boylesports) to win group.

Best Bet: To win Group D – 9/5 (Boylesports)

Roy Hodgson has been brought in to try and extract something from an England squad that has the lowest expectation from fans and the media in years yet BetVictor are still quoting 11/1 for them to win outright despite, including Euro 96 on home soil, only making the quarter stages twice since the 60’s. Boylesports make them joint 9/5 favs to win Group D but with a tough opener against France, morale could plummet with defeat. Potential banana skins Sweden and Ukraine await and Coral’s 7/4 for the Three Lions to go out at the first hurdle is tempting while Paddy Power offer a larger 16/5 on a third place finish. Betvictor post up 20/1 about a straight Group D tricast of France followed by Sweden and then England. Ashley Young’s runs from midfield will be key and Betfred put 8/1 on the winger being England’s top scorer.

Star Man: Steven Gerrard

Prediction: Group Stages

Fixtures:
June 11 – France
June 15 – Sweden
June 19 – Ukraine

Odds: 11/1 (BetVictor) outright, 9/5 (Unibet) to win group.

Best Bet: Eliminated in group stages – 7/4 (Coral)

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