England Squad Named as Lions Priced at 9/1 for EURO Glory
- By A.J. Ryder on May 16, 2012 15:59 GMT
Steven Gerrard will captain England this summer as Roy Hodgson revealed his line-up for the Euro 2012 competition. It carries a strong Liverpool slant to it with Andy Carroll considered the surprise inclusion for many, along with Glen Johnson, Stewart Downing and back-up Jordan Henderson.
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Much will be made of the exclusions Hodgson has made with both Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes missing out. Scholes would have provided a much more cultured passing game in the middle of the park but was perhaps left out due to his age and relative inability to tackle properly.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will excite many fans and it will be interesting if he gets to play a considerable amount this summer.
It should also be remembered that England will be without the services of Wayne Rooney for the group stages, though it goes without saying that Rooney remains in the squad as he is simply far too valuable to leave out. Jermain Defoe and Danny Welbeck round out England's striking options with Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge selected as a reserve player.
Spain are the distinct favourites to win Euro 2012, repeating the success they enjoyed back in 2008 and they have much of their squad returning for this one. The 5/2 listing floating on them is a reasonable one and you can bank on Germany putting in some stiff competition thanks to their solid 3/1 price tag and high-quality form.
Holland are perennial challengers for this one and you can back them at a 7/1 margin – good value on a team that could surprise. Roy Hodgson's England are available at 9/1 and that's obviously a bit lower than it should be considering where the bookmakers do most of their business. You'll find better prices on England at German-facing or Italian-facing bookmakers.
France are in the mix for this one at 11/1 while Italy return a good price at 12/1. Get ready to cheer on those 1-0 wins for the Italians. Portugal and Russia can both be backed at 20/1, while co-host Ukraine trades as low as 40/1.
Poland sit at 50/1 while the Republic of Ireland could be the big surprise with a 100/1 price to win Euro 2012.
