Weekend Euro 2008 Football Hints

England v Andorra

England are just 1.03 to beat Andorra in their opening match of the European
Championship Qualifiers. They are yet to play a competitive match under new manager Steve McClaren and will be without the injured Michael Owen and suspended Wayne Rooney but anything other than a comfortable win on English soil would be deemed a failure for McClaren’s men.

There should be plenty of support for England on the -4 Asian Handicap line at odds of 2, especially after a convincing 4-0 defeat of Greece, a theoretically much stronger side than Andorra. Though this was in a friendly, England showed signs of being in good form and Peter Crouch in particular looked sharp as he scored twice on the night.

England started strongly against Greece and scored after just 13 minutes. They were 4-0 up by half-time and are quite an attractive 1.16 to be leading at half-time in this match. An interesting market is the “clean sheet” market where England are just 1.22 to not concede a goal. This may seem quite a big price given the class and experience of England defenders such as John Terry and Ashley Cole but England’s weakness at defending from set pieces, which was so obvious at the World Cup, may come back to haunt backers of the 1.22 on Andorra failing to score.

Latest Match odds on Betfair

England 1.03

Draw 38.0

Andorra 140.0

Czech Republic v Wales

The Czech Republic will have to face up to life without charismatic captain Pavel Nedved, who announced his retirement from international football at the end of the 2006 World Cup. This shouldn’t prevent the Czechs from obtaining 3 points at home to a Wales side that boast two top-class players in Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy but lack international quality throughout the rest of the team. They will also be without attacking pair John Hartson and Jason Koumas who have been omitted from the squad.

The Czech Republic are just 1.38 to beat Wales and this looks a fair price but there are other markets worth getting involved in. Welsh defender Danny Gabbidon has hinted that Wales would be more than happy to leave with a goalless draw, which suggests Wales will adopt a very cautious approach. On these grounds, the 2.12 on under 2.5 goals looks a good price as Wales have limited options going forward. Also, so early on in Qualifying, the Czech Republic will be happy with 3 points without going all-out attack in search of goals which and this is another reason why a flurry of goals is unlikely.

The first-half is likely to be a cautious affair with both sides reluctant to concede and Wales getting a lot of men behind the ball so a stalemate after 45 minutes is a real possibility. With the Czech Republic possessing the greater options upfront and with Wales likely to tire late on a draw at half time and Wales win at full-time at 4.8 may be worth considering.

Latest Match odds on Betfair

Germany 1.43

Draw 4.8

Ireland 10.5

Germany v Rep of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland will not have fond memories of their last match- a 4-0 home defeat to the Netherlands- but will take comfort from the fact that it was just a friendly. Steve Staunton will also have his star attacking duo Robbie Keane and Damien Duff this time round after both missed the last match through injury.

Despite their return, avoiding defeat away to Germany will be a difficult task for the Republic of Ireland and the 1.43 on a Germany win looks generous given the quality Germany showed at the World Cup and in particular the current club form of star striker Miroslav Klose. Germany to be leading at half-time and winning at full-time at 2.1 looks a good bet as Ballack and co tended to scorer early on in their World Cup matches and defend their leads, with the exception of their encounter against Poland where they needed a last-minute Oliver Neuville winner.

Over 2.5 goals at 1.87 looks a fair price as Germany can score freely on their day whilst an Irish team containing the attacking threats of Keane and Duff are always capable of nicking a goal.

Latest Match odds on betfair

Czech Republic 1.38

Draw 5.3

Wales 10.5