JUNE 13: PORTUGAL v DENMARK TIPS

Euro 2012, Group B, Wednesday, Lviv, 5pm

SOME people expected Denmark to be the whipping boys of Group D but one look at their world ranking suggested otherwise.

I wasn't one of those tipping them to pick up “nil points” but I did forecast them to finish bottom of the group and lose to Holland.

Whether that 1-0 result had more to do with Dutch dithering than Danes dazzling is up for debate but there is no doubt the victory was well deserved.

Denmark made defending their priority and did it quite well against an off-form Robin van Persie.

They will be hoping Cristiano Ronaldo is kept just as quiet because he is key to how Portugal perform.

He is their focal point and if the Real Madrid star is on his game there is every chance he can lead his side to victory. But that's a big if because Ronaldo was posted missing against Germany although the service was poor.

So this match is tough to call. On paper Portugal are the better side while the Danes are more dogged. A draw would be a great outcome for Denmark and that's the way I'm going.

The draw is a biggest 5-2 with bodog while Portugal are 11-10 at Stan James with the Danes 4-1 (various) to notch another shock.

If you fancy Ronaldo to step up to the plate he is 11-2 at Stan James to bag the opener and
11-8 to net at anytime.

Michael Krohn-Dehli was the surprise matchwinner first time out and is 5-1 at bet365 and unibet to net again.

Here's another bet to consider for anyone on Portugal. Ronaldo is 21-10 at Blue Square to score more than Sunderland's Niklas Bendtner who didn't do much against the Dutch. Bendtner is 9-2 with the tie 8-13.

At the 2010 World Cup, three of the four games involving Portugal finished with one goal or less and three of their last six games have finished 0-0. Unibet go 2-1 on under 1.5 goals and 17-2 on another 0-0.

There have been seven goals in the last 10 minutes in the last four meetings of the sides. You can have 7-4 at William Hill on a goal after the 80th minute.

Scots ref Craig Thomson will be the man in the middle and is 12-1 at McBookie.com to be awarded the Final. He's more likely to award a penalty (5-2) or show a red card (3-1).

Recommendations

Ronaldo to score
(11-8, Stan James)

Draw HT
(13-8, Ladbrokes)

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