England Listed As Second Favourites for UEFA U-21

Spain are the significant favourites to take this edition of the UEFA Under 21 tournament and the bookmakers aren't shy about offering up prices that reflect Spain's expected dominance of this year's contest. Punters will find the Spanish side priced as short as 7/4 ahead of tomorrow's big kick-off. It will be the only genuinely notable football contest happening this summer aside from the Women's World Cup.

England are getting a fair amount of respect ahead of this one as well and it's not just the English bookmakers that are pricing them as the second favourites. Stuart Pearce's side are listed in the neighbourhood of 5/1 with most major bookmakers and that puts them just a few steps ahead of the chasing pack.

England definitely have question marks over top of them and you'll see proof-positive of that in the fact that they are 5/4 to go out in the group stages.

The Czech Republic and, notably, Iceland are both available at a 6/1 listing and both look to be genuine shouts to make the final if things don't go according to plan for the Spanish or the English. Switzerland and Denmark are both two countries who know how to get the job done at all levels of play and they can both be backed at an 8/1 price tag. The Ukraine and Belarus trade at 10/1 and 25/1, respectively.

Obviously, several Spanish players are getting the nod for top tournament goalscorer with Bojan considered to be the favourite. You can back him at 5/1 and that's not a bad wager if he manages to stay healthy and can run up a significant total in at least one group stage game. Adrian Lopez is an outside shot at 7/1 while Daniel Sturridge represents England's main hope. Scott Sinclair is listed at 10/1.

Icelandic sensation Gylfi Sugurdsson might be the one to keep your eye on if they wind up fulfilling expectations. He's a more than decent 12/1 with Manchester United forward Danny Welbeck available at an identical price.

The bookmakers definitely favour an England vs Spain final and they've priced that match-up at a 6/1 price. The pressure is definitely on the Spanish side and they will certainly come into this one with plenty of momentum, but many eastern European sides have begun to emerge nationally in recent years and fixtures against Ukraine and Czech Republic sides are never walkovers. England must remain steady and count on their midfield core to supply enough service to their solid, but not outstanding, forwards.