Group Goals

 

One of the interesting bets available on the European Championships asks which will be the highest-scoring group. Predictably it’s all pretty tight, according to Blue Square Group B is leading the way on 2/1, followed by A and C at 11/4 and finally D at 3/1.

These numbers are almost completely mystifying, Group C surely will be tight with the likes of Italy and France in it, whilst one would have expected Group D to be more open with the likes of Spain – who should be free-scoring – lining up against relative minnows in the form of Russia and Greece. Football betting is sometimes a precise science, sometimes utterly unfathomable.

One suspects that the prospects of Group B being the highest-scoring group has something to do with Gemrany’s position as favourites for the tournament. In a group that features rank outsiders Austria, Poland and Croatia, one would expect the Germans to rack up a few against the former pairing, even if I suspect that they will struggle against Slaven Bilic’s Croatia.

I personally expect the fireworks to go off in Group A. If the Portuguese are going to match up to their billing one would expect them to be free-scoring, whilst susceptible to the odd defensive weakness. Ronaldo, Quaresma and Deco between them should offer enough between them to bag a hatful, as proven by Ronaldo’s position on top of scoring charts. Further, they find themselves lining up against the likes of Turkey, hosts Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, none of whom can claim to have particularly watertight defences.

For an outside bet for the tournament overall, the Czech’s always look promising. They will be boosted by rumours of Nedved’s return from international retirement, but at the expense of Captain Rosicky who needs to have an operation. Nonetheless the Czech’s will score, in the shape of Koller they have a forward who, when fit, is practically impossible to play against, even if he doesn’t score that many himself.

Only time will tell which group is the most high-scoring, and with little difference in the odds between the four groups it’s unlikely that it’s going to be a particularly lucrative bet. Still, I think Group A are the most attractively priced.

Football betting odds courtesy of Blue Square.