England vs Spain: Spanish have the stars to take win
Published:Despite being ranked number one by UEFA at under 21 level, England are underdogs for their Group B opener with Spain, but this may be for good reason.
Match Odds
Victory is especially critical for both sides in their first games of the European under-21 Championship, as Group B is certainly the tougher of the two pools.
The other two sides are Ukraine, who were beaten finalists in 2006 and the Czech Republic, who were the only team to have remained unbeaten during qualifying.
England’s odds are 14/5 to beat Spain and they secured victory on the last occasion that they met at under-21 level, which was in this same tournament in 2009.
Meanwhile, England also head into the match with no injury concerns within their squad, although the likes of Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll would have been valuable members if they had decided to take part.
Spain have no such troubles in their ranks and can call upon five players from the current Barcelona squad and two of last summer’s World Cup winners in their ranks.
It is 1/1 in the football odds that Spain beat England at the MCH Arena in Denmark, although they do have fitness concerns over Thiago Alcantara, Iker Munian and Juan Manuel Mata.
Both teams would probably be satisfied with a draw to enhance their chances of progressing to the semi finals and this result can be backed at 23/10.
To Score At Any Time
With question marks over the starting line-ups of each team, it may be safer to back players to score at any time within the 90 minutes, rather than the opening goal in Herning.
Daniel Sturridge is a virtual certain starter for England and therefore may represent the best value in this market at 7/4, while Barcelona’s Bojan is another likely starter for Spain and is 5/4 to score at any time.
