Group of death potentially awaits England in Euro 2012 draw

England will be keen to evade a group of death with Spain, Portugal and France if they harbour serious hopes of winning Euro 2012.

As ever the draw will play a major role in deciding which eight nations advance from the group stages and enter the quarter finals.

England have been ranked among the second seeds with Italy, Germany and Russia and are currently 12/1 in the Euro 2012 odds to win a first major tournament since the 1966 World Cup.

However, this price is sure to alter depending on the difficulty of their four-team group.

World Cup finalists Spain and Holland are certainly the teams to avoid in pot one, while Portugal and Croatia lurk in pot three.

France represent the toughest opposition in the fourth pot, although England may also not fancy a showdown with neighbours the Republic of Ireland.

These results would be the worst case scenarios for England and there is equally the chance that they will be handed a far simpler task of progressing from the group stages.

Their current price would surely shorten if picked out with co-hosts Poland in Group A, with Sweden in pot three, who looked distinctly average in the recent friendly at Wembley.

Meanwhile, Denmark and Czech Republic are the better options from the fourth pot and England will feel they can comfortably get a result against either, especially having already won a friendly in Denmark in 2011.

The draw also means that the Republic of Ireland are unable to face France in the group stages and so cannot seek revenge for their controversial defeat in the play-offs for the last World Cup.

It is 50/1 that the Republic of Ireland win Euro 2012.