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Euro 2008 Betting Preview – Group C Opening Fixtures (June 9)

June 6th, 2008

Having generated many column inches of Euro 2008 betting analysis the so called Group of Death finally gets underway on Monday (June 9th) as Italy, Holland, France and Romania battle for the two available qualification places. Euro 2008 Group C is without doubt the hardest to call from a betting perspective.

Cannavaro Injury a Huge Blow For Italy

World Champions and Group C favourites, Italy, got off to the worst possible start at Euro 2008. Without even starting a game, captain Fabio Cannavaro, their immensely experienced defender, capped 116 times, has been ruled out of the event after tearing ankle ligaments in training. The Azzurri have drafted in defender, Alessandro Gamberini, from Fiorentina, but will struggle to fill the void by the ever reliable Cannavaro. Italy, priced 2.670* with PinnacleSports.com to win Group C, kick off their Euro 2008 campaign against the Netherlands on Monday night (8.45pm GMT).

With an uncanny similarity to Cannavaro’s bad luck, Holland’s Ryan Babel has been also been ruled out of Euro 2008 after suffering an ankle injury in training. The Liverpool winger’s absence won’t perhaps be as big a blow to the Oranje as that suffered by Italy, but he did feature in 11 of their 12 qualifiers. The Netherlands’ squad possesses undoubted talent, but coach, Marco Van Basten has the difficult task of deploying that in a winning formation, with an historical expectation for an attacking 4-3-3 system that doesn’t fit well in the modern game. PinnacleSports.com price Italy 1.763 (0/scratch)* with Holland 2.210 (0/scratch)* – a Euro 2008 Asian Handicap priced to less than 102%.

France Without Viera For Opener Against Romania

France’s captain, Patrick Viera, is definitely out for their opening fixture against Romania on June 9th, and is touch and go to participate at all. Viera has had an injury marred season at Inter Milan, so there must be questions about his general fitness levels. The French can however cope with his absence, with a hugely talented squad that are perhaps a little under-estimated by PinnacleSports.com’s priced 9.400* in a Euro 2008 betting market priced to 105%. Les Bleus begin their campaign against Romania in Zurich, looking to emulate their success in lifting the trophy in 2000.

Excitement in Romania is reaching fever pitch as the national team has qualified for the first major international football event since Euro 2000. It has taken that long for a new generation of Romanian players to step out of the shadow of the Golden Generation spear-headed by Gheorghe Hagi. Cristian Chivu and Adrian Mutu are survivors from the team that reached the knock-out stages eight years ago from a tough group, but this assignment is even harder. The Tricolorii must get something out of this opening fixture but PinnacleSports.com price France favourites 1.870 (-0.5)* with Romania 2.060 (+0.5)* in their match-betting, while the Romanians are 12.240* long shots to top Group C.

*All odds subject change so check out the latest across the op rated sportsbooks here at BookieLabRat.com >> Live Euro2008 Odds.

>>For more on this top Handicap sportsbook, read the PinnacleSports Bookmaker Review.

Entry Filed under: Bookie News & Bonuses,European Football,Sports Betting