Egypt v Spain betting tips: La Rojita can shine in Sapporo opener
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Egypt v Spain betting tips and odds
Olympic favourites Spain get their campaign under way on Thursday morning with a Group C match against Egypt.
Luis de la Fuente has a very strong squad at his disposal and his side are 2/9 to get off to a winning start in Sapporo.
The north Africans were refused permission to include some of their best players to compete in the 16-nation tournament so let’s take a look at the markets and the odds in our Egypt v Spain betting tips.
Match Odds
Spain have six members of their Euro 2020 squad in Japan and having reached the semi-finals they are understandably 7/4 favourites in the men’s Olympics odds to win the tournament.
Pedri, the Euro 2020 young player of the tournament, Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo, Pau Torres, Mikel Oyarzabal and Unai Simon are all included in a squad which also comprises Real Madrid duo Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio, plus Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino.
Liverpool denied Egypt’s request to include Mo Salah in their Olympics squad and the same occurred with Arsenal midfielder Mo Elneny and Galatasaray’s Mostafa Mohamed, so in the absence of some of their best players they are 16/1 to win and 24/5 to draw their opening match.
They did beat a strong Brazil under-23 team in November, however, but Spain are expected to field a strong team having started with Merino, Ceballos and Asensio in midfield for the recent friendly against Japana which ended in a 1-1 draw.
We cannot ignore Egypt’s 2-1 victory over Brazil, though, and they are 33/1 to beat Spain and both teams to score, while goals at both ends is priced at 17/10.
However, all but one of the 22-man squad plays in Egypt, so we’re leaning towards a comfortable morning’s work for the Spaniards who can be backed at 19/20 to win and over 2.5 goals.
Talking Tactics
Barcelona teenager Pedri was one of the stand-out performers at the European Championship, starting all six games, so perhaps the 18-year-old midfielder may not get the nod for the opener having played so many matches.
Dani Olmo also had an exceptional Euros and he is expected to join Asensio in attack in support of Wolves striker Rafa Mir.
Former West Brom centre-back Ahmed Hegazi, now playing in Saudi Arabia, is likely to play in the heart of defence for the Pharaohs.
Match Info
Where: Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan
When: 08:30, Thursday 22nd July
How to watch: BBC iPlayer/Red Button
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
