EURO 2012 BETTING PICK - RUSSIA V CZECH REPUBLIC

Euro 2012

2012-06-08 - Russia vs Czech Republic

A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted

RUSSIA v CZECH REPUBLIC
Football : Europe : EURO 2012
Friday, June 8th, 2012, 7:45PM GMT

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PREVIEW

I don't understand how Russia are priced so big for the straight win here. Dick Advocaat's men have now gone 14 games without defeat, and their last match, albeit a friendly, saw them put a 3-0 beating on Italy. The Czechs only just scraped into this tournament.

The Czech Republic finished just ahead of Scotland, and then had to go through playoffs, where they eliminated Montenegro. Compare that to Russia, who topped their group, conceding just 4 goals through qualification! The side is very experienced too, as Russia returns half the members of the squad that made it to the semi-finals of Euro 2008. One of those men is captain Andrei Arshavin.

Arshavin was one of the stars of the last tournament, and since leaving Arsenal on loan to rejoin Zenit he has seen his form improve markedly once again. Leaving aside friendlies, Russia have now not been beaten in 8 proper competitive matches. Their last 4 qualification matches saw them keep clean sheets, scoring 8 goals. The team will have Pavlyuchenko to call in up front, along with Zhirkov and Kerzhakov. Those 4 men will cause havoc against the Czech, keeping them on the back foot which of course makes it easier to be solid defensively.

The Czech Republic are a team that get priced according to their "name". They're not a small sh*tty country so never get priced as massive underdogs but they really are not playing well at the moment, and should be a lot bigger to beat Russia, who I expect to win this group. The Czechs have beaten by Hungary, and were held by Ireland coming into this match. Hardly impressive displays I don't mind telling you.

Rosicky has improved his play a lot during the 2nd half of the season at Arsenal, but really, I don't see any real threat to Russia here apart from ex-Liverpool striker Milan Baros. Petr Cech is in goal, and he is solid, but the Czech have not been keeping them out in international games, so I would not trust him, and his defence to keep Advocaats men from scoring.

BETTING VERDICT

I have to pick Russia here. Take them on the AH for a slightly better price.

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Consider Russia to win @ 2.25 (BetVictor)