PREVIEW
Spain and France were not great in their final group matches but Spain still managed to win while France did well to lose by just a 2-0 margin. Sweden could well have scored more against France, who saw their 23 match unbeaten streak come to an end. Spain made it 3 wins from 3 with their 1-0 win over Croatia, dealing excellently with the pressure of being 1 goal away from exiting the tournament, such was the situation. Spain have now lost just 2 competitive matches since October 2006, a staggering statistic.

Spain just seem to know how to get it done in big tournaments. They were knocked out by the French in the World Cup 2006 but since then they have won the Euro 2008 and the World Cup 2010. The form as continued, winning dominantly when performing well but also when they did not play to their potential, which is a scary thing for opposition. While Benzema continues to misfire for the French, failing to score in his last 4 starts, Fernando Torres has come through, scoring in the tournament to take his tally to 30 goals in 96 matches.

France continue to have question marks over them, from what I have seen. They were losing to an understrength England before Nasri popped up with a long range effort that beat his club teammate. There was a good win over the Ukraine but France were no doubt looking to beat Sweden to top the group and avoid Spain. That did not go well at all, despite the effort and motivation. Of course, the reports of fighting between players only shows the problems that reared it's ugly head at the last World Cup aren't completely over. It's better, but this lot are clearly prone to issues with getting along, completely unlike Spain, who are a close knit bunch.

I have this down as a Spain win. The price looks short but really isn't, because if France try and play Spain they are going to get blown out, something I actually expect to see happen.

BETTING VERDICT
I'd recommend taking Spain on the AH giving up either 0.75 or even 1 ball to get prices over even money. Take a long look at the massive 3.44 available at Pinnacle on Spain winning by at least 2 goals, because that is a value punt.

Since I expect Spain to win by at least 2 goals, it makes sense to jump all over the 2.25 available for them to simply score twice against the French.

Addicted Betting Tip : Spain