Spain vs Republic of Ireland Betting Pick | Euro 2012

Euro 2012

2012-06-14 - Spain vs Republic of Ireland

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Spain v Republic of Ireland
Football: Euro 2012 Group C
Thursday 14 June 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV

Preview

After all the concerns about who would fill the boots of David Villa in the Spanish line up and get the goals for the side, it was probably no the biggest confidence boost to the likes of Fernando Torres and Fernando Llorente when neither was selected and they decided to play SIX midfielders instead.

While Spain played the possession football we have come to know, they looked a little toothless in the 1-1 draw with Italy as there was no one stretching the defence and giving the centre halves to be concerned about. That meant they could pick up runners coming from midfield and it was only a poor attempt at offside that eventually allowed Spain to earn a draw with the Italians.

That point means they are sitting two behind Croatia, although that could have changed come kick off depending if Croatia have picked up a result against Italy. With the deficit and just one more game to play after this one, Spain will be looking to take care of a potentially demoralised Republic of Ireland and give themselves a great chance of reaching the Quarter Finals with a win in the game.

I say Ireland are potentially demoralised as they didn't seem to get the rub of the green in their first game with Croatia and were beaten by the 'easiest' team in the group 1-3. A bad decision from the officials and a ball bouncing in off the goalkeepers head was not what the Irish fans were expecting coming into the tournament and they have left themselves in a precarious position.

No matter what happens in the earlier game, Ireland will be the first team knocked out of the competition with a defeat in this game and that will surely up the pressure on the side. They looked out of sorts in the game with Croatia and struggled to match the urgency that their opponents showed and that is what would have disappointed Giovanni Trapattoni the most.

There have been some positive vibes coming out of the Irish camp ahead of this game, but how much they believe will be proven on Thursday evening. Ireland could potentially play a 4-5-1 system to try and counter the Spanish dominance in midfield, but they cannot afford to concede an early goal like they did in the last game as that will force them to open up much more than they are likely going to want to.

Head to Head

This will be the first meeting between the nations since they faced one another in the World Cup of 2002, a game that Spain took on a penalty shoot out at the last 16 stage of the competition.

Before that game, Spain and Ireland had previously met at the World Cup Qualifying stage for the 1994 event. Spain won their last meeting 1-3 in Dublin back in 1993 before the 2002 meeting.

Prediction

I know it is a little dumb to base a lot on one game, but the Irish players looked a little out of their depth in the loss to Croatia although that could also have been down to being sucker punched two minutes either side of half time to see their 1-1 become 1-3.

Ireland have a solid defensive platform on which they build their entire foundations, but they were let down on that front with some misfortune and bad defending combined. With the need for points so great, they cannot afford to get off to a bad start in this one as a defeat will send them out of the competition.

Spain played some neat possession football against Italy in their last game, but the lack of a striker was a real head scratcher and I felt they were much more dangerous when Fernando Torres was on the pitch. After Croatia beat Ireland, I am sure Vicente Del Bosque has already decided to play a forward in this game and get Spain's campaign off and running.

What makes this game tough to find an angle is the doubt about Spain playing a striker in this game- I think they will as they do need to win and are likely going to need to win by a couple of goals to prevent goal difference becoming an issue at the end of the group stage. The other issue is whether Ireland will be content to sit back and try and earn a 0-0 and actually getting through to 70-75 minutes having done so.

You see, I like Spain to win this by a couple of goals as I believe they can pick Ireland off once they force them to come out and have a go when they are behind. My biggest concern is that there haven't been too many wins by more than a goal, with only Croatia and Russia managing to do so in the first 12 games at the tournament.

However, I think we will be able to add Spain to that list, but I will be desperately hoping they can grab the first of those goals before the 60 minute mark to give them enough chance to use the counter attack to good effect against a side pushing for an equaliser to save their tournament.