The first of the Group D games kick off at Innsbruck, Tivoli Neu where Spain will face Russia. If there is such thing as an easy group then Group D would be it and both sides will be looking to get off to a good start and get points on the table. On paper Spain should make short work of Russia so you should be able to find some good value by using free bets from Betfair and Skybet to bet on the Russians. Spain are currently ranked 4th in the world by FIFA making them, on paper, the 2nd betting side in Europe behind Italy.

Many people feel that this is Spain’s year but they say that every year but always seem to disappoint. However, the current squad is the strongest they have had for a long while and they’ll want to shake the tag of underachievers. With the brilliant Cesc Fabregas running things in midfield they have one of the best talents in the world and with Liverpool’s Fernando Torres in fine form after 24 goals in the English Premier League this year they have a realistic chance for glory. Spain will play the most beautiful football of all the nations on show but they will have to do it without their record goal scorer and international superstar Raul who was surprisingly dropped from the final squad of 23.

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Russia qualified for Euro 2008 at the expense of England but are expected to struggle in the finals. Their coach, Guus Hiddink, has a fantastic record of taking smaller nations deep in competitions leading South Korea to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup and Australia to the knockout stages of the same competition in 2006. They will rely on his tactical genius to progress from Group D, especially as their star player, Zenit St Petersburg forward Andrei Arshavin is suspended for the first two games after being sent off against Andora in qualifying.

Russia’s real problem is a lack of true world class players and many think that Arshavin’s absence cold make all the difference to their whole tournament and especially in the game against Spain where they won’t get many chances to attack and score as it is. This tie would be a good match to use the free bets available from Betfair and Skybet as there is bound to be plenty of goals and fast flowing football. Bets can be placed on the result of the match, the first goal scorer and time of the first goal to name three options. If you use free bets from Betfair you can take advantage of the in-game betting facility where you can place bets as the action unfolds.