Russia - Group A outright winner

RUSSIA TO WIN/TOP GROUP A @ 6/4

One of the easier qualifying groups with co-hosts Poland joined by Russian, Czech Republic and Greece.

Poland has the honour of getting the tournament underway against Greece on 8th June. I dearly hope Poland can make it to the quarterfinals by qualifying out of this moderate group, and yet I can't help thinking this is a must win game for both these side. I see the loser effectively being eliminated, and a draw is unlikely to benefit either side in the final analysis.

Poland, as co-hosts with Ukraine, didn't go through a qualification campaign, yet we can assess their form based on competitive friendlies and the quality of their squad. I happen to think they are slighly over rated in the tournament based on their host status, but perhaps that is a justifiable edge given the relative weakness of Group A.

I expect Poland to draw or just edge the game with Greece but fail to win against either Russia or the Czech Republic. Greece qualified unbeaten - but rarely produce in the finals (the exception being 2004 when they surprised everyone by winning as complete outsiders. They weren't the first team to do that either - remember Denmark?)

The Czech Republic are not the side they used to be as their star players have retired/past their best/not replaced. I fancy Russia to beat the Czechs and Greece, but struggle against Poland whom are a bit of a bogey side for them. But that result won't prevent them winning the group with 6 or 7 points. I think the Czechs may just sneak second place but it could be a "bunched finish" settled on GD and mutual results.

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Posted on: 21.05.2012, 17.26 CET (Viewed: 712 times)
Match starts on: June 08, 2012

4/10 on Russia at 2.50 with BetVictor (Fixed Odds)

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