Euro 2008 Bet: Spain v Russia

To say yesterday’s bets were a disaster is a bit of an understatement. Betting on more than 2 goals in the bore-draw between Romania and France was bad enough, but to then see the Italians get humped by Netherlands 3-0 was rubbing salt into the wounds. Both bets sunk without trace and my balance shrunk from £317.67 to just £79.17! But I’m not about to give up and although I might have just under £40 to play with in the next game I’m going to keep going.

Spain are many people’s fancy for the tournament outright and they have a good chance to establish their credentials in tonight’s 5pm kick-off. Comparing the two teams form points to a win for the Spaniards; their recently friendly wins include 1-0 victories over France and Italy, whereas the only top 10 nation the Russians have defeated recently is England – they’ve suffered defeats to Israel and Romania since then.

Spain have a huge wealth of talent to call upon, so much so that Real Madrid’s Raul didn’t make the squad. Liverpool’s Fernando Torres has been in terrific form in England and if he can take that into Euro 2008 Spain will take some stopping. Russia on the other hand are without their star striker and chief orchestrator, Andrei Arshavin for the first two games and he’ll be difficult to replace.

Spain are stereotypically labelled ‘chokers’ when it comes to the major tourneys and I’m a bit nervous about going all in on them to win tonight but I just can’t see any other bet I’d be confident putting my money down on.

Selection: Spain win. £39.58 @ 7/10 at Paddy Power

Selectabet Offers:

• Open an account at Bet365 and claim £100 in free bets
• Open an account at Betfair and claim £25 in free bets
• Open an account at Paddy Power and claim £25 in free bets