Back Arshavin to silence critics against Greece

Greece and Russia line up for the final Group A match of Euro 2012 and it is Dick Advocaat’s men who are in command of the group, sitting with four points from  two games.

The Greeks still have a chance of qualification but need to beat Russia to ensure they finish above them on the head-to-head record, which would then render the result of the Poland v Czech Republic clash immaterial.

Russia have already netted five times in the group, with young star Alan Dzagoev scoring three of those and already netting first in both group games.

He is 6/1 to do the same here against Greece and 7/5 to score at any time in the 90 minutes – both prices should receive plenty of attention from punters.

Striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov has failed to fire so far, missing a host of chances against Czech Republic and hardly getting a sight of goal in the second game again Poland.

His starting place must surely be under threat with former Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko waiting in the wings.

The Lokomotiv Moscow man is 17/10 to score at any time but with uncertainty surrounding the nature of Advocaat’s line-up, it is well worth holding fire on your bets until the starting XI is announced.

As for the Greeks, they have scored just twice so far. The second of those goals was gifted by Petr Cech but the first was an equaliser when down to ten men on the opening night against Poland. In that match they also missed a penalty following the sending off Wojciech Szczesny.

Greece are the outsiders to win this match and in truth, they will do well to get on the scoresheet.

Theofanis Gekas is their shortest-priced player to score first at 9/1, with Giorgos Samaras making no real appeal despite being available at a massive-looking 14/1 with bwin.

He has hardly had a chance in this year’s tournament, so there is almost no value in considering the Celtic front man.

One player certainly worth consideration, though, is Andrey Arshavin. He was magnificent in the first match against the Czech Republic and rightly drew praise for his performance.

Admittedly, he was a passenger in the second game against Poland, with his lazy pass resulting in the Poland equaliser and the fact that he looked exhausted with a good 20 minutes left to play.

But his talent on the ball is undoubted and he does get himself in some very advanced positions, giving enough indications that he could find the net in the match at odds of 2/1.

Bet on Arshavin to score at any time in the match at 2/1 with your free £25 bet for registering and you could be picking up a win of £75 if the Arsenal man does indeed hit the back of the net.

Recommended bet: Arshavin to score against Greece @ 2/1

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