Spain v Ireland: Spanish to do late damage as normal

With Spain being a relatively short price to beat Ireland, it may be better to look elsewhere for some value in the market and this can be found in the 11/10 that Vincent Del Bosque’s men score more goals in the second period than they manage in the opening 45 minutes.

It will take a brave punter to go against a Spain success, which is priced at 2/7 in the Euro 2012 odds, but Ireland at least have the capacity to make life difficult for long periods.

Spain are notoriously slow starters and despite dominating possession against almost all opposition, they can take a while to break down the opposition.

In all of their six games since losing 1-0 to England in November, the second half has been responsible for more Spanish goals than the first and things are unlikely to be different in Gdansk.

Ireland are almost certain to attempt to park the bus and steal a winner on the counter attack and given that the Spanish tend to play fairly narrow, this should make their attackers easier to keep tabs of.

But with tiredness kicking in after the break and Spain possibly liable to introduce more width to their game, they can eventually break down their rivals.

Serbia and China have been thwarted Spain for over an hour in 2012 before succumbing to the pressure.

Ireland know that they realistically need a victory if they harbour any aspirations of progressing from Group C to the knockout stages and may be more inclined to take greater risks later into the encounter.

In a tight game, this could result in Ireland grabbing a late lead and it is 11/1 that they secure victory, with 4/1 on offer on the draw.

However, a second-half Ireland goal could alternatively spring Spain into life as was the case once they fell behind to Italy in their opening Group C, enhancing their chances of scoring more after the interval.

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