Spain are missing key men upfront and Germany look a real force ahead of Euro 2012 tournament. Ethan Rowe, Tips-Free-Bets.com tipster, explains why you shouldn’t put your money elsewhere.

All attention is now on the knockout stages of Euro 2012. After the group stage at Tips-Free-Bets.com we looked at the form of key players that are still in the tournament to try to understand earlier than bookmakers which side will lift the trophy 1st July in Kiev. If you expect yet another Spanish victory than you may be disappointed as this tournament may be more of an end of season siesta for the reigning champions.

Vicente Del Bosque’s will take on France in the quarter final and I have the feeling this could be the end of their campaign. With a few exceptions, such as Juan Mata and Torres the bulk of Spain’s squad is made of players from Barcelona and Real Madrid. Both teams have been battling on a multitude of fronts this season and those players have been involved on average on 60 official games since last August. They didn’t perform brilliantly in the group stage and although they finished first they struggled with both Italy and Croatia.

Laurent Blanc’s France have what it takes to beat them and progress to the semi-finals. I must admit their last match against Sweden wasn’t great viewing but they had already qualified and the feeling was that they were too relaxed. I don’t think that was the French side that will play against Spain: they came into this tournament with a 21 game unbeaten run and they will be keen to prove that they are up with the big boys again. Compared with the last World Cup they are a rejuvenated team that can also count on a few elements that have the necessary experience to help the squad in difficult moments.

The main weakness for France is in defence but considering that Spain will probably play without a striker, this may not have such an impact in the game.

Del Bosque’s have a series of selection issues that will be keeping him awake at night: the absence of Spain’s all-time goalscorer David Villa who broke his leg back in December is having a massive impact on the squad that have struggle to score in the two most challenging group stage encounters. Strangely, the experienced coach made a huge mistake by not including Roberto Soldado in the squad and they may pay the consequences of this in the next match.

So even with injuries Spain still remain a threatening team but the reason why I think they will fail is that they are tired and key players have already won everything and the feeling is that they would rather be on holiday than play yet another tournament.

Meanwhile, second favourites Germany look a real value to me at 4.30. They were in impressive in South Africa and since then they have only grown in experience and quality.

England will probably face Germany in the semi-finals if they can beat the Azzurri. Following England’s qualification for the quarter-finals there has been the usual wave of patriotic punting in support of the team. I am a tipster and although I’m the same as everyone else in wanting an England win, I also need to objectively analyse the real chances of success. As always the England fans and media have been too quick to applaud Roy Hodgson’s men. Let’s be honest: they have been lucky to get this far and I don’t think they are equipped to get past Germany. I think a semi-final will be a good result considering the circumstances before this tournament: I’d like to be wrong but Germany are much stronger.

Having said that, I don’t think we will get hammered the same way as we did two years ago, but we cannot simply rely on Gerrard crossing the ball upfront hoping that Rooney’s new hair will be ruined! The Germans could have an easy route to the final, where they could meet either France or Portugal. The Portuguese cannot be underestimated – they kept the Germans at bay for nearly 90 minutes – and should reach the next round easily and they should have a decent chance against the French or Spanish.

At Tips-Free-Bets.com we provide the best football betting tips on every Euro 2012 quarter-final match. We use a mixture of experience and data and this is the reason why our winning rate is around 75% – much higher than any other serious tipping site on internet.  We also have a close relationship with top bookmakers and we are able to negotiate exclusive free bets and money back promotions so make sure you visit us daily during the tournament.