Betting.Betfair

Stuart Pearce has had just a fortnight to prepare for the tournament and the lack of playing time together showed as GB slumped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Brazil last week.

There has also been the Gareth Bale controversy, hinting that players may not take the tournament seriously: the Tottenham winger pulled out of the competition through injury but has since appeared for Spurs on their pre-season tour in the United States.

Despite all that, coach Pearce insists his 18-man squad will be one of the best-prepared at the Games. "We will have to chop and change and to be successful we will have to use all 18 players and use them wisely. There are a lot of matches in a short period of time. There is a lot of travelling involved as well. But we feel as though our preparation will be on a par with anyone else's, if not better."

GB have no injury worries going into tonight's opener so Pearce is likely to put out his strongest side as they look to get off to a winning start in the 20:00 kick-off. Alongside captain Ryan Giggs will be plenty of Premier League quality, with Micah Richards, Tom Cleverley, Daniel Sturridge and Craig Bellamy all expected to start.

There will be a couple of familiar names in the Senegal line-up, too: West Ham midfielder Mohamed Diame and Everton striker Magaye Gueye are set to be in the starting line-up. Sadio Mane, a 20-year-old who plays for Metz, caught the eye in France's second division last season and is one of the young players in the competition to look out for. But overall GB should have too much experience and home support for their African opponents.

The fact Great Britain are likely to win is also reflected in the outright betting for the tournament - Pearce's side are trading around 15.0 to lift the trophy while Senegal are among the outsiders at 70.0.

But if the 1.68 on the hosts to make a winning start tonight is too short for you, then the alternative would be to put them in a multiple with some of the other leading sides that launch their campaigns on Thursday.

Spain (14:00), Uruguay (17:00) and Brazil (19:45) are all on show, facing Japan, United Arab Emirates and Egypt respectively in the group stages. These three plus Great Britain head the outright betting market, and all four stand a good chance of collecting three points from their opening fixtures as they look considerably stronger on paper than their opponents.

To win on the day Spain are around 1.4, Uruguay 1.26 and Brazil 1.2. At those prices, a four-fold including Great Britain at 1.67 would pay out at around 3.7. That's a decent return considering all four teams look in decent shape and will take the competition seriously.

A more cautious selection would be to simply put Brazil and Great Britain in a double. Home fans saw last week just how powerful this Brazil side can be, and by including them alongside the hosts you'll push your selection to around the evens mark.

Best Bet: Great Britain and Brazil in a win double @ 2.04

For more Olympics betting articles, go to http://betting.betfair.com/betting/2012-olympics/