Well, hello all and welcome to the start of betting previews for each and every match in Euro 2012. There will inevitably be some sides I know less about so I may miss out some glaring piece of information that makes my tips a mess, if this is the case then please feel free to add that in the comments.
Poland v Greece, Friday 1700
First up is one half of the tournament hosts facing Euro 2004 champions Greece. Those of you that have read my tournament preview blogs will know that I have been tipping Poland for a while now as the potential outside shots. Unfortunately the bookies have also cottoned on to this and the prices on them have been cut accordingly, but that's not to say they still aren't backable. I'm a big believer in teams with form players in attack heading into tournaments, and also units within the team being from the same club. This familiarity makes the short time international squads are together less important, which is a huge boost to the sides lucky enough to have this. Poland possess Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Błaszczykowski and Łukasz Piszczek all from recent German double winners Dortmund. Lewandowski scored twenty league goals and will enjoy his role as a lone striker with support from Blaszcykowski as well as Obraniak of Bordeaux. Most of the squad will also be treating the competition as a shop window and benefit from some boisterous home support.
Greece were a team I considered as a real dark horse again. Having looked into the squad in more detail though and there seem to be too many players out of form and a complete lack of class. The three goalkeepers chosen have either been long term injury victims or dropped by their clubs at some point this season and have been panned by many within the Greek press. Karagounis will again play in the centre of midfield even though he has had a wretched season at club level. Then in attack they will be relying on the notoriously volatile Theo Gekas, capable of scoring a hatful or storming off in a huff at any moment. The defence will as always be their strongest area with plenty of choices of uncompromising centre halves and pacey full backs. The first choice centre backs Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Avraam Papadopoulos have been in good form this season and could well be key to any hopes Greece have. They have gone unbeaten in seventeen matches recently, so they're not going to be easy to beat, but I think they'll struggle if attacked.
Back Poland at 2.0 with SkyBet.
Russia v Czech Republic, Friday 1945
The second match on the first day sees two sides from the East meeting up. My feelings on Russia have gone the opposite way to that of Greece in recent weeks. I've always had them marked as a hit or miss side, and my early feeling was that they'd possibly completely bottle the tournament. With Andrei Arshavin central still and rotting at Arsenal until February I thought this would really hurt their chances. However comma his move to Zenit has seen him improve a lot, although still nowhere near his peak, and also seen Zenit romp to the league title. This will bode well as they provide numerous players for the national side like the striker Kerzakhov and the right wing back Zyryanov. Both are fantastic players and look set for good tournament I think. Throw in other loanees like Pavluychenko, Pogbrebnyak and Zhirkov all finding late form and I think they could surprise a few people and definitely look capable of scoring plenty.
I have the Czech Republic as potentially the worst side in the whole tournament. I can honestly not see anyone in their side who would worry anyone else in Poland/Ukraine. There are a few remnants of their great side of around a decade ago like Milan Baros still around, but he is woefully out of form and was not particularly welcome at Galatasaray last season. Tomas Necid was expected to be their next attacking hope, but he has completely failed to kick on in the last couple of years. Obviously Petr Cech was much improved in the final months of Chelsea's season, but he will have far less protection here and will need to perform miracles if the Czech's are to pick up a win.
Back Russia at 2.3 with BetVictor.
Netherlands v Denmark, Saturday 1700
First match in the 'Group of Death' has two sides famed for their attacking sides of the past meeting. The Netherlands come into the tournament off the back of an almost flawless qualifying campaign having lost their last match to Sweden when they had already qualified. Many sides would envy the array of attacking talent they possess with arguably Europe's two most in-form strikers in the squad in Robin Van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar. Huntelaar finally settled at a club after leaving Holland and scored over forty goals in a great campaign at Schalke. Van Persie almost single handedly at times dragged Arsenal up to third in the Premier League and is now looking at possibly his last big pay day move. You also have the likes of Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Rafa Van Der Vaart and Ibrahim Afellay all in support too. Manager Van Maarwijk has normally preferred Van Persie as a lone striker with Robben and Afellay on the wings and Sneijder behind, and I would imagine he'll stick with this unless a disaster occurs. Those four should be enough to strike fear into any opponents, although the lack of decent defenders is a worry and often sees Van Bommel and De Jong fielded in front almost chopping the team in two.
Denmark have been slightly underestimated by most I think. They are by no means going to turn up any trees, but I don't have them down as the whipping boys the odds would suggest. I certainly think they're a more rounded side than Portugal and wont lie down for anyone. They have one of the brightest prospects in European football in Ajax's Cristian Eriksen and I would expect him to light up matches if Denmark do well. The defence will include Daniel Agger and Simon Kjaer who have both been lauded in recent years as brilliant centre halves, although neither is necessarily a scrapper. They fit into coach Morten Olsen's idea of attacking football brilliantly though. And in attack they will field Niklas Bendtner who may well not be as good as he thinks, but is a useful player on his day nonetheless. If the Netherlands do go ahead I don't see them sitting back and hoping to hold on to a slender defeat, I'd expect them to go for broke.
Back Over 2.5 Goals at 2.05 with BoyleSports.
Germany v Portugal, Saturday 1945
This match will be the first chance to see if many people's, and my own, tips of Germany are as good as we think. This is by no means an easy start for them either as Portugal have a decent tournament track record. The biggest boost for Germany will be the news that Bastian Schweinsteiger has been declared fully fit. I think he is the best central midfielder in football today and will be especially important as an older head in a squad containing some young stars. The only possible weak spot I see for Germany is the centre of defence, and even that is only because of the strength they have in every other area. I would still expect them to be as organised as ever, only now they possess the threat of lethal counter-attacking play. They have Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil as probably the starting four attackers, but then also have Mario Gomez, Marco Reus, Mario Gotze and Andreas Schurrle all coming off the back of good seasons ready to step in if needed. It really is a frightening choice in attack.
Portugal are possibly the most over-rated side here for me. Outside of Ronaldo, and he is one of the greats, they offer very little. They have also seen the calming influence and experience of Ricardo Carvalho withdraw after a disagreement with fiery coach Paulo Bento. The centre backs will be the combustible pair of Pepe and Bruno Alves, in midfield there is not a single attacking player and they still don't possess a striker worthy of the name. Ronaldo and Nani will be heavily leaned on to provide inspiration in a side where it is desperately lacking. In Ronaldo's case the goalscoring burden will also fall upon his shoulders and this has proven too much in the past. He has looked in far better shape for the national side in the last twelve months, but I still think he'll be let down by his teammates and possibly end up in his usual default mode of stroppy.
Back Germany at 2.02 on Betfair.
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