Betting.Betfair

[u]Match Odds[/u] I agree with the view that Germany have been the best team in the tournament. They overcame Portugal 1-0, outplayed Holland (2-1) and rode their luck but still won against Denmark (2-1). In the quarter-finals, with what you could call an under-strength Starting XI, they were much better than Greece (4-2). Germany are the only semi-finalist to have won all four games en route to the last four, and Opta point out they go into this match on a 15-game winning run, an all-time German record. By reaching the semi-finals, Italy have exceeded most people's expectations. A draw is probably the best they can hope for here. That's been the outcome in three of their four matches to date, which merely underlines their lack of quality in front of goal. Whereas Germany have scored...

[b]Almost every Opta trend points to a Germany victory, but there are reasons to believe that Greece will keep things respectable...[/b] [b]Greece have met Germany eight times before this meeting, but are yet to win[/b] (D3 L5) This stat won't provoke much surprise given that Germany almost always have the superior players, and in fact could be flipped to suggest that it is fairly impressive that Greece have drawn almost half of their meetings with the most successful side in European Championship history, including three of the last five. They haven't lost any of the last seven by a margin of more than two goals, and have trailed at the break in only one of the last five, so though defeat is being treated as an inevitability, a reasonable resistance should perhaps be expected. [b]None...

[u]Match Odds[/u] Germany's performance against Portugal might not have satisfied those who backed them to win Euro 2012, but the result was a good one and the Mannschaft are in a strong position in Group B. The position is so strong, in fact, that Joachim Low will surely consider launching an assault of Holland's jugular in Kharkiv. The reward for victory over the Dutch is the likely elimination of a serious rival. The risk of defeat is relatively small: there would be another chance to secure qualification in the third group game with Denmark. Germany overran Portugal in midfield and it was only their own deficient finishing that stopped them scoring more than once. You could say the same of Holland - the match with Denmark was theirs to win - but Germany are set up to thrive...

[u]The favourites[/u] [b]Spain (3.9)[/b] You can't argue with their status as favourites when we consider that the reigning European and World Champions have almost the same squad as they did when they won those two tournaments. But therein lies part of the problem. Almost. The absences of Carles Puyol and David Villa are two hammer blows to their chances because those are perhaps the two areas they could least afford to lose players. Fernando Torres comes into the tournament under-played and pretty unhappy with life, Fernando Llorente was excellent over two legs against Manchester United but anonymous in the Europa League final so maybe he can't handle the biggest stages just yet. I'm not sure this business of playing without a recognised striker such as Cesc Fabregas as the player...