da stake casino： The Euro 2012 draw has been made and it’s good news for England who will be playing in Group D against hosts Ukraine, Euro 2000 winners France and recent friendly opponents Sweden. As a result of the draw the England Euro 2012 odds have proven very popular with punters wanting to take some early value on Fabio Capello’s side.
da premier bet： England fans will be thinking “It could have been a lot worse after that draw”, England were second seeds just like Germany and could have ended up in a group with Holland, Portugal and Denmark. Instead it was Germany who took the remaining spot in Group B. England were widely available at around 11/1 before the draw with many bookies but most have shortened, including William Hill who now only offer 7/1.
Republic Of Ireland are in Group C in a tough group with Spain, Italy and Croatia. Republic Of Ireland got a draw the last time they played Spain in a major tournament in 2002 and they’d love the same result again. Group A looks the more favourable group with hosts Poland taking on Russia, Greece and Czech Republic. The problem is the two qualifiers from the weakest group will meet the two qualifiers from Group B which looks the toughest group so the runners up in Group B won’t be too disheartened at having to play a group winner.
England will be without the suspended Wayne Rooney for the beginning of the tournament but recently beat Spain without the striker and also beat Group D opponents Sweden 1-0 without Rooney which is a good sign for England’s chances. England’s recent results against France and Ukraine haven’t been as good though, in a friendly against France in November 2010 where Fabio Capello experimented with his team England were beaten 2-1 at Wembley whilst England have two fairly recent competitive matches against Ukraine from World Cup 2010 qualifying. England beat Ukraine at Wembley but lost the away tie 1-0 which is a worry.
Most will expect England to at least qualify from this group but winning the group will be very important as the runners up in Group D will take on the winners of Group C, which will in all likelihood be Spain. Winning the group would probably mean a quarter final against Italy which looks a much more favourable tie. England are favourites to win the group at around 6/4 whilst France are 2/1 in the Euro 2012 group betting.
Former England manager Glenn Hoddle was pleased with the draw, he told Sky Sports news “Nothing threatening there, we should be able to qualify, all in all a very good draw for England” whilst current England manager Fabio Capello declared himself “satisfied” with the draw and stated that he thought Spain were still the favourites.
It has been many years since Wayne Rooney wasn’t the favourite to be England’s top scorer at a major tournament but his suspension means that Darren Bent is 11/2 favourite to score the most goals for his country, Ashley Young is next best at 7/1 whilst Wayne Rooney is 8/1 despite the fact he will miss at least half the games that England play at Euro 2012. For more betting opportunities at Euro 2012, click here.