Spain face Swiss challenge in Euro U21's Final - Betting News with Betfred

versus

Spain have looked virtually unbeatable at times in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championships, but came within a whisker of elimination in Wednesday's semi-final against Belarus.

Having rescued victory from the jaws of defeat, their last gasp comeback against Belarus has taken them to within 90 minutes of another Under-21 title, but they face an impressive Switzerland team on Saturday evening, playing in their first final, having been semi-finalists in 2002.

The Spanish, European Under-21 champions in 1986 and 1998 have been praised from all sides for their football so far – which is reminiscent of their senior team's brand of play that took them to World Cup glory last summer.

Spain are odds of 4/6 to win in 90 minutes but might not have everything their own way against Switzerland though. The Swiss have emerged victorious from all four matches in Jutland and, perhaps more impressively, the Group A victors have yet to concede a goal.

The football experts believe Spain will lift the trophy, and in Adrián López of Deportivo de La Coruña, Spain have a striker in a rich vein of form, and with five tournament goals to his name already, he will seriously test the so far watertight Swiss defence!

Spain needed an 89th-minute equaliser from Adrián against Belarus to take the match into extra-time, before the same player headed them in front and Barcelona striker Jeffren Suárez clinched the win, as they failed to hit the same heights showed earlier in the tournament.

In the other semi-final the Swiss too needed extra-time to clinch a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic, thanks to a winner from FC Zürich forward Admir Mehmedi.

There is no doubt the two best sides in the tournament have made it into the final of the European under-21 Championships and it promises to be a great meeting between two in-form sides.

Spain have been most people's favourites to win the tournament ever since a ball was kicked, but they showed against England and Belarus they can struggle to break down organised defences, and they looked a little tired in their semi-final.

They will not have everything their own way in the final against a strong Switzerland side that are big outsiders and football odds of 9/2 for a Swiss win in normal time reflect this.

Swiss fans and punters looking for inspiration and a possible upset on Saturday need only to cast their minds back 12 months ago when the senior Swiss side caused a major shock at the World Cup, beating Spain in their opening game group game.

My Tip of the Weekend:

Spain should be too strong for Switzerland but there will not be many goals in the game, with a 1-0 win to the Spaniards looking good at 5/1 with Betfred.
For those of you who feel this final could go beyond the 90 minutes, you can get 5/1 also on the game to be both a draw at half-time and at full-time.

Saturday 25th June: Spain U21's v Switzerland U21's, Aarhus Stadium, Aarhus, kick-off 19.45 BST, live on Sky Sports 1.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

England's Young Lions Fire Blanks!

The 2011

UEFA Euro

Under-21

Championships

Group B

15/06/2011

Ukraine 0

England 0

A late Danny Welbeck strike last Sunday, earned England a creditable 1-1 draw in their opening UEFA European Under-21 Championship group game, against a strong Spanish outfit.

But England's young lions failed to capitalise on Sunday's performance, as they fluffed their lines and suffered stage fright in Herning tonight at the hands of the Ukraine, and were held to a goalless draw against a team considered the weakest in the 'group of death.'

England lacked imagination throughout a docile encounter, with too many long balls lumped forward towards an isolated Danny Welbeck, who admirably tried to create something out of virtually nothing.

It was Ukraine and their forward Denys Garmash, who had the game's first real attempt. He struck from 20 yards after a strong run, but a deflection took the ball off target. Ukraine's next chance of the match fell to Konoplyanka, whose 25-yard drive was pushed away by keeper Frank Fielding, but only into the path of Maxym Biliy who was denied a shot on goal by a brilliant challenge from Chelsea left-back Ryan Bertrand.

Shakhtar Donetsk defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy was the next to go close for Ukraine, drilling a 25-yard free-kick narrowly wide.

Daniel Sturridge (right) was the pick of the young England players, and came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 32nd minute.
Bringing down a high ball 30 yards out, the Chelsea striker sent a vicious dipping volley over the head of Kanibolotskiy, but with the keeper well beaten, the ball crashed off the cross-bar and bounced away to safety.
England finished the first half on top but went into the break goalless.

After the break Sturridge drilled a fierce free-kick too close to Kanibolotskiy.
Welbeck then wasted the best chance of the second-half courtesy of another moment of magic from Sturridge. His incredible volleyed pass sending Welbeck clean through only for the Manchester United striker to slice his chance horribly wide.

On the hour mark the ineffective Jack Rodwell and Danny Rose were substituted, to be replaced by Henri Lansbury and Scott Sinclair, and the pair made an instant impact, Lansbury pouncing on a loose ball and feeding Sinclair, who's control let him down.

Sturridge then had a shot blocked as England, like on Sunday, committed more men forward late on, but the Ukraine knew a draw was even more damaging for them than for their opponents.

England failed to build on their small amount of pressure, instead allowing Ukraine to come back into the game.
Ukraine threw on Zozulya for Kravets with 20 minutes remaining, and they almost broke the deadlock eight minutes from time when Phil Jones' first error of the match let in Zozulya, but Fielding produced a fine stop.

Lansbury was involved in everything good England were doing and Stuart Pearce's men nearly snatched it late on when Lansbury drilled a shot just wide from 20 yards, and Sturridge's 30-yard blast was tipped round the post by Kanibolotskiy, who then saved Welbeck's header from the resulting corner.

A win tonight would have left England needing only a draw to progress but the reality is now that England are left with a must-win final group game against the Czech Republic at the weekend, if they are to progress to the semi-finals of the Euro 2011 tournament.

Earlier tonight Spain beat the Czech Republic 2-0 in Viborg, and now sit top of the group with 4 points from their opening 2 games, with the Czech Republic lying 2nd on 3 points after defeating the Ukraine in their opening game. England have 2 points from 2 games and the Ukraine 1 point from 2 games.


England's U21 team tonight:

Fielding, Walker, Smalling, Jones, Bertrand, Henderson, Mancienne (Muamba '89), Rodwell (Lansbury '57), Sturridge, Welbeck, Rose (Sinclair '58).

Subs: McCarthy, Muamba, Albrighton, Sinclair, Tomkins, Cork, Cleverley, Lansbury, Delfouneso, Wickham, Steele.

To Play:

19.06.11 - England v. Czech Republic - Viborg Stadium, Viborg - ko 19:45, live on Sky Sports.
19.06.11 - Ukraine v. Spain - Herning Stadium, Herning - ko 19:45, live on Sky Sports.

Psycho's boys kick-off 2011 Euro dream versus Spain - Betting News with Betfred

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The youngsters of England face a formidable challenge in their opening UEFA European under-21 Championship group game, when they face the World Cup holders next generation of starlets, in the shape of Spain.

Stuart Pearce led the England under-21s to the final in 2009, going one step further than their semi-final defeat in the 2007 tournament, and will without doubt be looking to win this competition which begins this weekend in Denmark.

The man known as 'Psycho' has admitted he has used the 2009 campaign in Sweden as the blueprint for this tournament, though much of the build-up was overshadowed by the 'will-he, won't-he' dilemma involving the call-up of Jack Wilshere.

In the end Pearce decided not to call on the Arsenal midfielder, and despite the loss of Kieran Gibbs, Micah Richards and Andrew Carroll through injury, he still has a strong squad at his disposal. Some of his under-21 stars could look to use this tournament to impress in the wake of the England senior teams recent dismal performance against Switzerland.

England face Spain in their opening European under-21 Championship match and their opponents are even money to win the game, something most football experts agree with.

If you look through the Spain under-21 squad it is filled with talented youngsters, some who already have experience of playing on the world stage, and it is no surprise to see them as pre-tournament favourites. They are priced at 7/4 to lift the trophy with Betfred.

Head coach Luis Milla can call upon the likes of the talented Barcelona pair Thiago Alcántara and Bojan Krkic, Valencia's Juan Manuel Mata, Athletic Bilbao's Javi Martínez and goalkeeper and Manchester United target David de Gea - so they are understandably well fancied by many to replicate their senior team, and secure the UEFA European under-21 trophy.

Danny Rose and Daniel Sturridge got the goals to give England a 2-0 win over Denmark in their final warm-up game and those two, along with the likes of Manchester United duo Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley, will be Pearce's danger men as they hunt for the win - priced at football odds of 9/4.

England have a lot of young talent within their squad, and if they can play to their full potential there is a real chances that they could go all the way in Denmark.
They are definitely in the tougher of the two groups, but if they can qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament they are in with a real chance - whatever happens they should certainly go further than the senior team did at last summers World Cup!

My Tip of the Weekend:

No one would be surprised if Spain prove to be too strong for England, but the opening match of any tournament is often a cagey affair and a draw at 9/4 looks a safe bet, with a 1-1 scoreline a 5/1 shot.
Take the 5/1 before a ball is kicked on the Czech Republic to be surprise winners of the tournament. They had an outstanding qualifying campaign, topping their group with 22 points from a possible 24, before thrashing Greece 5-0 in the play-offs.(Greece topped their own qualifying group with England as runners-up).

Sunday 12th June: Spain U21's v England U21's, Herning Stadium, kick-off 19.45, live on Sky Sports 1.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Battle of the Strikers on the Cards at Anfield - Betting News with Betfred

V.

It is a clash of two teams aiming high and somewhat underachieving when Liverpool take on Manchester City on Monday night at Anfield.

Roberto Mancini's side had Premier League title aspirations, but are looking off the pace although they still look set for a respectable top four finish. They also have a Manchester derby to look forward to on the 16th April - the prize, a place in this seasons FA Cup final.

Both are something Liverpool fans would sell their souls to the devil for this season, but another season of Thursday night Channel Five action in the Europa League seems the best they can hope for.

Kenny Dalglish has been dealt a triple blow this week after defenders Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson were injured at The Hawthorns last weekend.

Centre-back Agger picked up a knee problem that has ended his season, while Johnson injured his hamstring, sidelining the right-back out for at least a month.

To add to Dalglish's woes it has been confirmed that captain Steven Gerrard has been ruled out for the rest of the season after failing to fully recover following a groin operation.

The absence of that trio comes at the worst possible time for 'The Reds' in their chase for a Europa League spot, as they take on the multi-million pound attacking talent City (15/8 to win the game, 11/5 the draw) have at their disposal.

Liverpool (6/4 to win the game with Betfred) have only lost twice at Anfield this season and need to bounce back from that 2-1 defeat at West Brom last weekend.

Their home form has been the backbone of their campaign and will remain key if they are to make up the five-point gap they have to fifth-placed Tottenham and the weekend Premier League betting suggests this will be a massive game.

Last time out in their 5-0 thrashing of Sunderland, Roberto Mancini named Adam Johnson, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez (11/2 to be first goal scorer) in his attacking line-up, and even had the luxury of Edin Dzeko and Shaun Wright-Philips on the bench.

The side now look solid Premier League tips for a top four finish, and if results go their way they could even end up the season as Premier League runners-up.

With Liverpool's new strike force of Andy Carroll (11/2 to score the first goal) and Luis Suarez, along with City's forward prowess, it has all the makings of goalscoring bonanza!

My Tip of the Week:

This should be an action-packed game between two attacking sides, so the 11/10 with Betfred for there to be over 2.5 goals in the game looks like a good option, while the 11/8 for Luis Suarez to score at anytime is also appealing.

Monday 11th April: Liverpool v Manchester City, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports 1.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)