Russia v Spain odds and preview of semi-final

Russia v Spain odds and preview of semi-final On Thursday is the second Euro 2008 semi-final, the match Russia v Spain, and we have the latest top odds and preview of the game. Now that we know the Germans have secure a spot on the Euro 2008 final, the question is whether the favourite Spain will be able to keep the Russian squad at bay. The online bookmaker Sportingbet (official website) has listed Spain as the ultimate favourite to go to the Euro 2008 final with odds 1.95, while the odds on Russia to beat the Spaniards are long 3.50, with 3.20 for a draw in regular time. Spain is also favourite with Sportingbet to qualify from a tie with odds 1.55, Russia is at 2.30. David Villa is the favourite first goalscorer in the Russia v Spain semi-final with odds 9/2, followed by Fernando Torres at 5/1 and Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko with odds 7/1. The bookmaker still has Germany as the favourite to win Euro 2008 outright with odds 11/10, Spain follows with odds 17/10 and Russia is the underdog with odds 11/4. Click here if you would like to see the full list of Euro 2008 semi-final Russia v Spain or to place a bet (no USA customer allowed).

Now let's look at the latest injury reports. Spain is looking good for Thursday, rumours emerge that Cesc Fabregas could compete with Xavi for the playmaker's post, after Fabregas did great against Italy, scoring the penalty decider. But the Spaniards are healthy and we would likely see little change from the regular line-up. Russia, on the other side, will have to patch up the squad, after defender Denis Kolodin and midfielder Dmitry Torbinski were ruled out with suspensions. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Ivan Saenko did a light practice, while Alexander Anyukov did not complete the full training session. All three are expected to be fit for the Euro 2008 semi-final, but will likely be a game-day decision. Andrei Arshavin returning from suspension and Vasily Berezutsky will start in central defence. Keep in mind that Spain and Russia have already met during the Euro 2008 and the outcome was a win by Spain 4-1. The second Euro 2008 semi-final game Russia v Spain will start at 20:45 local time (19:45 BST) from Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna on June 26th. Live betting will be available at Sportingbet.

Published on 06/25/2008