Euro 2012 Opta Stats: Russia set to send Greece home

The Greeks have lost both of their previous meetings with Russia at the European Championship: 1-2 in Euro 2004 and 0-1 in Euro 2008
Opta reveal that Greece and Russia will become the first nations to meet at three successive Euros and the outsiders won't find much encouragement in the last two clashes. They haven't won a game in the competition since lifting the trophy in 2004 and must defeat a team unbeaten in 16 outings to stand a chance of reaching the quarter-finals. Opta stack the deck even more by noting that they have never won a final group match at the Euros, while Russia haven't lost one in their current guise.

Greece have managed just three shots in the first half of matches so far (11 after the break)
Greece don't have the quality in their side that Russia boast, but they haven't actually performed that badly, instead suffering from an unfortunate knack of starting poorly and leaving themselves too much to do. They trailed Poland 1-0 at half-time in their opener and Czech Republic 2-0 within six minutes then won the second halves of both fixtures, though those recoveries salvaged only one point. Russia by contrast have led at the interval in both games.

Alan Dzagoev's first three shots on target at the tournament resulted in goals
The CSKA Moscow youngster's prolificacy has been quite the surprise, as though many fancied the least experienced of Russia's front three to sparkle at Euro 2012, it was anticipated that his creativity rather than his finishing would be what caught the eye. The 21-year-old had netted just four times in 20 caps before his three in two in Poland, yet with him benefitting from captain Andrey Arshavin's fine service - Opta note that he has assisted four of Russia's last seven tournament strikes - don't be shocked if the goals keep coming.

Recommended Bets:
Back Russia to beat Greece @ 1.784/5
Back Russia to lead at half-time at 2.447/5
Back Dzagoev to score @ 3.55/2

Click here to read more Opta stats on this encounter