Euro 2012 | Greece v Russia Preview | Betting Tip

Russia, clear leaders of Group A arrive at this match in the National Stadium knowing that a win will see them winning the group and playing the runner-up from Group B.

While the BBC website is reporting that Russia have no injuries, Dick Advokaat at his press conference has confirmed that Aleksandr Kokorin has a hamstring injury ruling him out of the rest of the tournament, and Konstantin Zyryanov has an illness, which makes him doubtful for the Greece game.

For Greece, however, this is a game which they have to win in order to progress.  And they will dos without their first choice goalkeeper, Costas Chalkias, and Avraam Papadopoulis.  Sokratis Papastathopoulis returns following his one match suspension, however.

Betting Tip

[The following tip is for fun only.  Gamble responsibly (if at all) and only gamble money you can afford to lose.]


I can only see a win for Russia here; they have played so much better than the other teams and are the only team to have a positive goal difference in the group and Over 2.5 Goals can be backed at 2.04 (21/20) at Betfair.

Euro 2012 | This much we know | 2nd Round Summary

Group A

Russia are the only team in this group to have a positive goal difference, which is a fair refection of their dominance so far.  They have to play Greece, who have been woeful in their two games thus far, and who are not going to qualify.

The czech Republic and Poland play each other, and Poland need to win this match, or else the Czech Republic and Russia will go into the quarter finals.

Group B

The so-called "group of death" has seen the death of the Netherlands.  Their shock defeat, caused entirely by profligacy of their strikers (they have had 46 goal attempts producing 1 goal over 2 games).  This has left Germany leading this group.

Germany play Denmark next, in a game which Denmark must obtain a result better than Portugal, and Portugal play the Netherlands. As these matches are played concurrently, Germany must also get at least a point from this game.

Group C

Spain are, as expected, top of this group.  The surprise is that Croatia are second, thanks to an unexpected draw with Italy and a defeat of Ireland.

By a mathematical quirk, if Spain and Croatia manage to score a 2-2 draw (or any higher score draw) then the Italians match with Ireland will be a dead rubber.

On the assumption that Italy beat Ireland, they will qualify if Spain or Croatia win.  So the chances are that Italy and Spain will qualify from this group.

Group D

The next matches in Group D will show us how good England are compared to the others in the group.  England have to play Ukraine, for whom it will be a home match.  England will need to ensure that they get a point at the very least.  If England lose, they will need to hope that France lose also.

Euro2012 | Match Preview Greece v CZech | Betting Tip

The two teams stride out at the National Stadium in Warsaw this evening having had quite different encounters in their first match.

The Czech Republic will be smarting from their 4-1 defeat to Russia.  Statistically, though, the Czechs pretty well matched their Russian opponents; except, of course, in the one stat which matters, the final score.  One key difference was that the Czechs played a little higher up the pitch than Russia, as can be seen below.

 

Screenshots from the FourFourTwo Stats Zone App

The Greek side, however, although they managed a draw with hosts, Poland, will need to play tonight without their first choice centre halves.  Sokratis Papaastathopoulis is suspended for tonight's encounter, somewhat harshly in most people's view, and his partner, Papadopoulos, is injured.

In order to progress, both teams will want a win from this encounter.  Greece will face Russia in their last match and so will want to put 3 points in the bag tonight, but the Czech Republic could be out of the tournament if they fail to win.

Betting Tip


[The following tip is for fun only.  Gamble responsibly (if at all) and only gamble money you can afford to lose.]

These teams may well cancel each other out, but there should be goals, so I will tentatively go for a 1-1 draw, available at 7.4 (13/2) at Betfair.

If the Correct Score market is a bit rich for you the draw is currently priced at 3.3 (9/4).

Don't put your shirt on it, though.