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After a hugely entertaining year, right across Europe, it's left to the continental finals to round off the season in style.

And with 31 matches in just 24 days, there's every chance Poland & Ukraine will deliver a suitable finale to the footballing calendar.

So whilst pundits and punters alike wait for what promises to be a captivating competition, we're looking at three markets which will surely provide the required level of drama in the upcoming European Championships.

Penalty shoot-outs, hat-tricks and sendings off.

Now when assessing the data, it's important to remember the Euros changed in 1996 to their current four-group, 16-team format (formerly just eight nations contested the finals). Therefore, we must gravitate towards the recent renewals of the competition for the bulk of our form study.

And maybe given current styles of playing (and refereeing!), that's no bad thing.

Penalty-shoot outs

In terms of penalty shoot-outs we've got seven potential matches in the tournament (quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final itself). Unlike the World Cup, there's no 3rd/4th place play-off.

The number of recent games decided by a shoot-out were 2008 (2), 2004 (2), 2000 (1), 1996 (4).

(As a comparison, the last four World Cups have seen make-ups of 1-3-1-2).

Hard therefore to recommend a play on zero matches (3.95) in the betting for Euro 2012.

Logic, and all the available stats, suggest we're likely to see spot-kicks at some point during the competition - after all, England are playing.

Well, that's presuming Roy Hodgson's men get that far in the tournament!

There's a case for backing 1 match (2.66) but at bigger odds and, more importantly, offering extra trading potential, the argument for 2 matches (4.0) is more persuasive.

Hat-trick to be scored?

Of course the difference between the European Championships and the World Cup is the smaller number of competing nations, the fewer amount of games played and the lesser spread of ability between the teams.

In other words, it's a much more competitive event all-round.

An example of this is the 13 finals to date, since 1960, have only managed to produce a total of eight hat-tricks.

Dieter Muller bagged the first in 1976, David Villa the most recent in 2008.

And please note, Muller's feat would count for this particular study as even though two of the German's three goals came in extra-time, all goals (right up to but not including penalties) do count.

Moreover, the chances of seeing another match-ball disappearing up the tunnel in a player's hands have also increased due to the higher number of matches played since 1996.

In the last four tournaments, we've seen hat-tricks in both 2000 (Conceição & Kluivert) and 2008 (Villa).

The market currently trades at (2.18) for 'Yes' whilst it's (1.81) for Europe's finest to draw a blank.

As such there appears to be a slight, statistical, preference towards the former option and, I guess, in the interests of entertainment, this should also be encouraged.

Sendings-off

However, as much as goals change games, so do sendings-off.

Going back over the years the red card figures at the finals are 2008 (3), 2004 (6), 2000 (9), 1996 (7). In it's previous guise, when less than half the number of games were played, there were very few dismissals - 1992 (0), 1988 (0), 1984 (2) and 1980 (0).

With twice as many games, and probably half as much tolerance from officialdom, recent tournaments must be our guide.

But even though this market is limited to 90 minutes (not extra-time) the option 0-2 red cards (9.6) http://sports.betfair.com/Index.do?mi=105476107&ex=1&origin=MRL still seems a tad limited.

We've seen at least three sendings off in the group stage of the last four championships.

Therefore, given the options (3-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12 or more) and with UEFA's refereeing guidelines ever-changing, the best play might be to dutch together the two middle options.

At respective odds of (3.5) and (4.6) a combined odds bet equates to close on even money. Not that bad considering it would have paid out in three of the last four tournaments.

And that's what it's all about. Enjoying the spectacle of Euro 2012, for sure, but also making money whilst doing it.

These three markets will surely add to the entertainment value, and our analysis should take care of the financial aspect.

Key Statistic

The expansion of the finals, from eight to 16 teams, means that prior to 1996 there were only 15 matches played, whereas now there are 31 games. The group stages comprise 24 matches then come the four QFs, two SFs and the final itself.

Recommended Bets
Penalty shoot-outs in 2 matches 4.0
Tournament hat-trick to be scored (2.18)
Sendings-off, dutch 6-8 (3.5) and 9-11 (4.6)

For more Euro 2012 betting articles, go to http://betting.betfair.com/football/euro-2012/