No Tottenham Goalscorer And Other Great Euro 2012 Bets

THE ENGLAND squad for Euro 2012 has now been finalised and there will be the usual swell of patriotic money for the Three Lions to win a major tournament, especially if Roy Hodgson’s team beat Belgium when the two teams meet at Wembley on Saturday.

For those that bet with our head rather than lion heart, England never represent a value proposition, although the bookmakers have created lots of betting markets and I’ve found a few gems which will hopefully make some money.

1. No Tottenham Hotspur goalscorer at Euro 2012 @ 9/4

This isn’t me having a pop at Tottenham but merely pointing out that 9/4 is too big considering that Rafael van der Vaart is favourite for this market. Jermain Defoe will be lucky to get on the pitch and the Croatian pair of Modric and Kranjcar will be facing Spain and Italy.

2. Russia to reach semi-finals @ 3/1

I actually quite fancy the Russians at 25/1 on the outright market although we can be more confident of a winning bet by backing Dick Advocaat’s team to reach the last four of Euro 2012. Group A opponents Poland, Czech Republic and Greece shouldn’t provide much of an obstacle and potential last eight opponents Netherlands were undone by Russia at Euro 2008.

3. No Chelsea goalscorer at Euro 2012 @ 9/1

We have thought long and hard about placing this bet, although Juan Mata and Fernando Torres aren’t definite starters for Spain and the same applies to Frank Lampard for England. Sure enough, we’re just a goal away from disaster with this wager, although Malouda, Meireles, Terry and Cahill are all likely to draw blanks.

4. England to be eliminated by Italy @ 9/1

If England make it out of Group D, they will play a team from Group C which features Spain, Italy, Croatia and Republic of Ireland. Spain are 10/3 compared to the 9/1 about Italy and that doesn’t make sense considering the Three Lions are joint-favourites to win their section

5. Karim Benzema to be top France scorer @ 3/1

OK, so the Real Madrid striker misses his fair share of chances at club level, although Benzema is a nailed-on pick for Les Bleus and should provide the cutting-edge in attack. The likes of Jérémy Ménez, Olivier Giroud and Mathieu Valbuena are inexperienced at international level so Karim should be a cracker here!

6. Robbie Keane v Andy Carroll goals match bet – draw @ 15/8

The odds about this happening might be slashed but anything above 6/4 looks like a great shout when you consider Carroll might only start one match for England and also the fact that the Liverpool forward isn’t exactly prolific. While we’re banking on Carroll and the ex-Tottenham striker to draw a blank, they could easily get one apiece instead and that would also be a winner.

7. Group B to be lowest-scoring group @ 4/1

There is no statistical evidence to suggest Group A (the favourite on this market) will have the fewest goals and the chances are we will have low-scoring games across all four groups. Portugal and the Netherlands were very negative at the 2010 World Cup and won’t be any more expansive against Germany, while Denmark will also offer stubborn resistance to all three of their opponents.

This article originally appeared on Bettingpro.com, an award-winning sports, news and betting website.

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