So I was trawling Betfair looking for some interesting punts to make before it kicks off on Thursday and came across the following five. There's a lot out there but I thought these were especially fun -
City Where Most Goals Are ScoredKharkviv (16/1) I'll be honest. I hadn't even heard of Kharkiv before this morning. Now the odds are against the city because it only hosts three matches (the favourite Kiev hosts 5 including the final). I still fancy Kharkiv because its three matches are all from Group B, the clear favourite for the group to score the most goals. More importantly all the matches feature, a team who lit it up at the last Euros and scored 6 goals last weekend There's Holland v Denmark, Germany, and Portugal. I could see ten goals being scored in those matches. You know the final is going to be 1-0 anyway so there's not necessarily a huge advantage in a city hosting extra games.
Number of Hat-tricks: 0 (4/5): : Since 2000, only two hat-tricks have been scored. David Villa in '08 against Russia and Kluivert in 2000. Only 8 hat-tricks have ever been scored in the history of the Euros. I know it's like rooting against Christmas, but I'm very confident we won't see a hat-trick this time around.
Team Conceding Most Goals Portugal 15/1: I'm ashamed to say that Ireland are second in this betting, behind Denamrk, who the bookies seem to think have the leakiest defense in Group, and the tournament. Portugal are a much better bet. We know that Holland and Germany will score against them. After all, they gave up three goals at home to Turkey on Saturday. They also shipped 12 goals in qualifying (the most of any team to reach Euro 2012), while Denmark in the same group, gave up a mere 6. I'm not expecting a single nil-all in this group. Slam dunk, fellas.
Player To Be Sent Off: Phil Jones (3/1): An international tournament would not be complete without an England red card. Who will deliver this time? Usual suspects like Rooney and Terry seem too obvious, guys like Joe Hart are too classy. I'm torn between Scotty Parker and Phil Jones, and Jones edges it just by way of being that dangerous combination of being a bit raw and a bit mental.
Finalists: England/Ireland (299/1): I have no doubt Ireland can do the job. My fear is that England would let us all down.
