Side with likely scorers for man-of-the-match in France v England

England kick off their Euro 2012 campaign tonight as 5/2 underdogs against France, and as 6/1 favourite to score first, Karim Benzema also appears a worthy 13/2 favourite to be named the man-of-the-match.

Of the opening six matches in Poland and Ukraine, four goalscorers have emanated from those games with the man-of-the-match accolade, so it looks worth backing likely goalscorers to claim the award here too.

Franck Ribery comes next in the betting for French players, and he notched the winner the last time France met England, so may be worthy of some investment at 7/1.

Meanwhile, Olivier Giroud is 10/1, and he will be fired up to impress amidst rumours of a potential move to Arsenal materialising this summer.

The Montpellier striker hit 21 goals en route to his club’s Ligue 1 triumph last term.

For England, the betting starts at 10/1 for a Three Lions player to land the gong, as Andy Carroll and Ashley Young are at the forefront of the market at that price.

Carroll is not a sure-fire starter, but his physical style of play could pose very real problems to the French backline, particularly if he is given the nod ahead of Danny Welbeck.

Welbeck himself is a 12/1 shot meanwhile, and after scoring the winner in England’s final warm-up game, he could see support at that price.

There is the possibility that both will start, but with one striker now the preferred trend, that looks unlikely.

Of course, the aforementioned Young could also represent a value punt, bearing in mind his five international strikes in his last nine England appearances, and his pace and trickery as an outlet out wide.

However, patriotic punters could also prove tempted by a bet on a member of England’s recently-impressive backline to emerge as man-of-the-match.

With six clean sheets in their last eight outings, a shut-out could lead to the award for one of England’s central defenders, and John Terry is 16/1, with Joleon Lescott a 20/1 hope.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.