Euro 2012 Day Two Tips: Go low on cards

Denmark v Holland
First goalscorer
All eyes on Robin Van Persie then. He is 4.707/2 for the first goal and although the Arsenal forward scored 30 in 38 this season and has 26 in 63 international appearances is it wrong to wish that Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was starting instead?

No, not really. Huntelaar is a bigger price at 5.805/1 and outscored Van Persie in qualifying with 12 goals, four of them the first of the match. Van Persie netted six times, four in one game.

Denmark have little threat up top in terms of a threat. Nicklas Bendtner, who Sunderland do not want, will lead the line with the veteran Dennis Rommedahl and Michael Krohn-Deli alongside. Between them the three scored eight goals in qualifying. Bendtner is 8.207/1 for the first goal.

To score
The European Championships always provide a star for the future and Christian Eriksen, the Ajax schemer, might be it. The Dane will probe just behind that front three and although he has only two international goals, he did net seven times for his club side. He is 5.509/2.

Daniel Agger, the centre-half and a threat from set pieces, often takes Denmark's penalties. Van Persie, by the way, is 2.1011/10 for a goal.

Bookings odds
Anyone who has ever been to Copenhagen or Amsterdam know that the Danes and the Dutch are a relaxed bunch. Certainly the Dutch were not the anguished folk suggested by their thuggish display in the World Cup final against Spain in South Africa.

No. These are a becalmed bunch and we can make that pay on the bookings odds (two points for a yellow card and five for a red.

In qualifying, Holland averaged only 0.4 bookings per game. Only Spain were less colourful. Denmark had a mark of 1.12. This should mean that this is the cleanest game in the group sections. Germany, have a lower average than Denmark, but contests against their Dutch neighbours have always been nasty affair.s

The best wager is to get short of five points at 2.506/4. Surprisingly it is not favourite with nine or more odds-on.

Recommended Bet
Five points or under on bookings odds at 2.506/4

Germany v Portugal
To score
There is a school of thought that Portugal do the beautiful things well and the ugly things, well, ugly. They pass, move, shoot, flick and lay-off with deftness and speed. But they can be clumsy when they have to roll up their sleeves, or stick their face in where it hurts.

So Mario Gomez, the German brute up front, could enjoy giving the Portugal defenders a rough old time. They are not great at dealing with such men and are vulnerable aerially. Gomez will relish this contest.

But let us not be unfair to Gomez. We have portrayed him as some sort of old-fashioned lump of a target man. He is anything but. He can do the beautiful things well, too. He has two good feet and an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time.

His detractors say he needs four chances to score one. But so what? He scored 41 in all competitions last season and with Mesut Ozil pulling the strings he is unlikely to fret about where his next opportunity is coming from.

Gomez, 2.285/4 scored six goals in just 406 minutes on the pitch in qualifying. That is a goal every 68 minutes. To put that into context, Ronaldo, who is 2.789/5, notched every 103 minutes.

Bookings odds
Five cards were thrown around the last time these sides met - incidentally in the previous Euros - but we are not expecting a dirty game. This should be free-flowing gold. Everything that is great about the modern game. Thankfully the ref, Stephane Lannoy, is not some card-brandishing loon. Five points and under is 3.505/2.

Recommended Bet
Mario Gomez to score at 2.285/4