The first of Wednesday's European Championship matches is a Group B clash between Finland Russia in Saint Petersburg and we look to the corners markets for a bet.
Group B Betting Update
The opening round of matches in this group delivered wins for Belgium (3-0) over Russia and Finland (1-0) against Denmark.
Belgium are now 1 / 5 to top this quartet with Denmark next best at 15/2, Finland are trading at around 10.5/1 and Russia 40/1. Remember the are four best third place finish places available but to finish in the top 2 and make 100% sure Russia are roughly 19/10 and Finland can be backed at around 17/10 with Denmark 14/10.
Finland
Finland's opening match against Denmark in Copenhagen was completely overshadowed by the collapse of Denmark's Christian Eriksen just before half time with the score at 0-0. Finland had been on the back foot for much of the first half but after the decision to restart the game was made Pohjanpalo's goal on 60 minutes gave the Fins a winning start. Finland rode their luck with Denmark missing a penalty on 74 minutes and any punters who took odds of around 8/1 for a Finland win were smiling.
In the outright betting to win the tournament Finland are trading at around 150/1 (from an opening price of around 500/1).
Russia
Russia's opening match against Belgium was also staged at this venue in Saint Petersburg but home advantage counted for nothing as Belgium coasted to a 3-0 win. Russia had lost both group qualifiers to Belgium and any hopes of turning that form around had evaporated by half time when they were 2-0 down and the much fancied Belgian's added a third just before the finish. Russia had just 34% of the possession and managed a sole shot on target and hence they are under pressure to win this game and put themselves back in contention for a last 16 place
In the outright betting to win the tournament Russia can be backed at around 150/1
The Betting
Finland are trading at around 51/10 to win the game with the draw at 11/4 and Russia can be backed at around 13/20
A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 27/20 and it's 13/10 for both teams to score.
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict:
Although listed as the home side this is a very much an away fixture for Finland and that was also the case at the weekend when they faced the Danes in Copenhagen. The circumstances of how that game transpired make it hard to evaluate in my book and to some degree the same goes for Russia who offered very little against Belgium.
To be fair to Russia, other than the 2 defeats to Belgium they had been foot perfect in qualifying for these finals but they are not for me at this price.
I prefer the Russian corners market for a betting interest and despite creating very little against Belgium Russia were awarded 4 corners whilst Finland conceded 9 corners in their clash with Denmark.
Russia should have the bulk of possession and whilst it's not a confident pick I will go with them to earn 7 corners or more.
Bets: Total Russia corners over 6.5 at 12/10
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Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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