Russia v Czech Republic (Group A)
8^th June 2012, 7.45pm, ITV1 at The Municipal Stadium, Wrocław

The second fixture of the 2012 European Championships features a dangerous Russian side taking on a Czech Republic team that has been in decline in recent years. Russia are the 11/10 favourites with bwin and understandably so but the Czech squad does feature a number of dangerous players and a bit of individual magic could well prove decisive in deciding this encounter.

Tipsters Pick

Back Russia @ 11/10 with bwin

Russia are currently ranked as the 11^th best team in the world by Fifa. Dick Advocaat’s side came through their qualification for the 2012 European Championships with relative ease, topping their group with a return of 23 points from their ten games played.

While they may not have been involved in the toughest of groups with the Republic of Ireland providing stiffest competition, they can only beat the teams put in front of them, which is exactly what they did.

Manager Michal Bílek has made a number of changes to the Czech Republic squad since taking charge.

Their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign began with a shock home defeat to Lithuania, but the Czechs managed to recover and secure qualification for the tournament with a playoff victory over Montenegro. They are still very much in a transitional phase and it will be a major shock if they can achieve much success in such a competitive tournament.

Russia v Czech Republic Odds (Prices from bwin)

Russia 11/10
Czech Republic 5/2
Draw 9/4

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