Euro 2008 - Day 2

Germany V Poland

Everything looks set for a cracking match here as neighbours clash. Germany are the title favourites and probably rightly so as they are strong in defence and midfield and will probably keep many clean sheets and from an attacking perspective have plenty of options.
Predicted Line-Up: Lehmann, Lahm, Metzelder, Mertesacker, Jansen, Frings, Ballack, Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Gomez, Klose
This is Polands first European championships and they have it all to do here as they have failed to beat Germany in the last 15 attempts. Midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski suffered a hamstring injury and is ruled out for the entire tourney so his absense is a blow to Leo Beenhakker.
Predicted Line-Up: Boruc, Zewlakow, Wawrzyniak, Bak, Wasilewski, Lewandowski, Lobodzinski, Murawski, Dudka, Smolarek, Zurawski
There has been trouble in the media lately with the Polish press printing images of Beenhakker holding the severed heads of both Ballack and Löw, something that didn’t go down well in the German camp.

Verdict
In Arthur Boruc Poland have one of the best goalkeepers in the business and he will have to be on top form if Poland are to get anything from this game. The Germans are very sound defensively and Poland are going to have to be very clinical up front and not waste any chances they may get. Overall though it is the Germans who have the better balance and quality and with Ballack and Frings in the middle they will have the edge here. 1 – 0 to the Germans wouldn’t surprise me but I think that Poland's best chance is to frustrate and unders looks like good value here

PICK

Germany V Poland under 2.5 (2 @ totesport) 4 points


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Austria V Croatia

The Austrians have qualified as hosts and are the lowest ranked team in the competition. Its really hard to make a case for them taking anything from any of the games. Coming into this game they lack experience, form and preparation and do not have the players required to cope at this level.

In stark contrast Croatia have been installed as dark horses and why not. They are technically very good and in Niko Kranjcar they have a player of genuine class. Its vital to get off to a good start and they will be fully focused today. I couldnt be but impressed at the way they beat England in the qualifiers and it takes a good team to beat the English at Wembley.


Verdict
A shorter than usual preview but I havent too much to say on this one, Croatia are highly ranked in the world rankings and I am a little surprised at the odds on offer for them to win. I feel the odds on offer are more to do with Austria being at a home venue but I cant see this helping them as much as people think.
There is a huge gulf in class here and I expect the Croats to get off to winning ways

PICK
Croatia ( 1.91 @ paddy power) 6 points