Two Bets At 6/4 In Group A

Fri 8th – Sat 16th: In our Group A preview, Russia can top qualifying at 6/4 (Coral) while Greece are 6/4 to finish bottom.

GROUP A

Tournament co-hosts Poland have only previously contested one European Championship, failing to win a game and suffering group stage elimination in 2008 while the Poles’ last qualifying campaign, for the 2010 World Cup, was also disappointing. On paper then, Franciszek Smuda’s troops look likely to find the going tough but they are on home soil, which will undoubtedly be beneficial while a kind draw and the form of Borussia Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski, who was named Bundesliga player of the season, mean they have solid claims in terms of emerging from Group A, even if they don’t have the quality to trouble the business end of the competition. Stan James make Poland 10/11 to qualify from the pool but it’s Paddy Power’s 23/10 for them to finish as runners-up is the eye-catching bet.

Star Man: Robert Lewandowski

Prediction: Quarter final

Fixtures:
June 8 – Greece
June 12 – Russia
June 16 – Czech Republic

Odds: 55/1 (BetVictor) outright, 11/4 (Totesport) to win group.

Best Bet: Poland to finish second in Group A – 23/10 (Paddy Power)

Shock winners of the competition in 2004, Greece were unbeaten in qualification for the 2012 renewal, beating Croatia to first place. Their success was again based on resilient defending as they conceded just five goals across ten matches but as was the case in the 2008 tournament in which they lost every game, scoring just once in the process, the Greeks’ problems are likely to come at the other end. Much of the creative burden will be on the shoulders of Sotiris Ninis but aside from the young, Parma-bound midfielder, few players in Fernando Santos’ squad possess the ability to unlock defences and that’s why Greece are 9/2 outsiders with Skybet to top the group. BetVictor meanwhile, make them 4/7 to fail to qualify and it could be that they end up with the wooden spoon as they did four years ago, a 6/4 shot via Stan James.

Star Man: Sotiris Ninis

Prediction: Group stage

Fixtures:
June 8 – Poland
June 12 – Czech Republic
June 16 – Russia

Odds: 80/1 (Paddy Power) outright, 9/2 (Stan James) to win group.

Best Bet: Greece to finish bottom of Group A – 6/4 (Stan James)

The Czechs required a two-legged play-off victory against Montenegro to book their place at Euro 2012 after a mixed qualification campaign and their inconsistency doesn’t bode well especially given their recent major tournament performances. Since reaching the semi-finals of this competition in 2004, the Czech Republic have been eliminated at the group stage twice – in the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008 while they actually failed to make it to the World Cup finals in 2010 so it’s fair to say the formbook is against them. Another group elimination is 8/11 at Paddy Power. Buoyed by Chelsea’s Champions League success, stopper Petr Cech can enjoy an impressive tournament but that won’t be enough to see Michal Bilek’s charges fashion a path to the last eight and the Czechs, a 4/1 shot via bet365 to top Group A, subsequently look set for an early return home.

Star Man: Petr Cech

Prediction: Group stage

Fixtures:
June 8 – Russia
June 12 – Greece
June 16 – Poland

Odds: 66/1 (Ladbrokes) outright, 9/2 (Coral) to win group.

Best Bet: Czech Republic not to qualify – 8/11 (Paddy Power)

Russia have failed to reach the last couple of World Cups but finished an impressive third in Euro 2008 and were fairly convincing in qualifying for this competition, albeit in a group that, the Irish aside, was pretty weak. Dick Advocaat’s side have plenty of strength in attack, former Spurs striker Roman Pavlyuchenko and Fulham’s Pavel Pogrebnyak amongst their striking roster and with Alan Dzagoev increasingly influential in the middle of the park, the Russians should have enough quality to cruise through what is arguably one of the tournament’s simpler groups to reach the quarter finals. It would be no surprise if Coral’s 6/4 Group A favourites won every match (8/1 with Ladbrokes for 9 points) and Betfred make them an enticing 11/10 to make a flying start by seeing off Czech Republic in their opener.

Star Man: Roman Pavlyuchenko

Prediction: Quarter final

Fixtures:
June 8 – Czech Republic
June 12 – Poland
June 16 – Greece

Odds: 25/1 (Boylesports) outright, 6/4 (BetVictor) to win group.

Best Bet: Russia to win Group A – 6/4 (Coral)

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