The Spanish head into the competition as one of the heavy favourites – a position they would not have been at all familiar with up until 2008 when they ended their reputation as underachievers by winning the Euros.

Spain’s success has come from the dominance of Barcelona in the club game and the national side is unsurprisingly dotted with a number of stars from the Nou Camp.

Playmakers Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Cesc Fabregas are all likely to feature heavily against the Azzurri at the PGE Arena but Spain will still be missing one crucial Barca star.

Striker David Villa has been ruled out of the tournament through injury and head coach Vicente del Bosque will have to look for goals elsewhere, with Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente (9/2 – First Goalscorer) and Pedro Rodriguez all vying for a starting role.

As for Italy they come into this tournament on the back of a torrid run of form, with the former European powerhouse suffering a 3-0 defeat in their final friendly against Russia before the competition in Poland and Ukraine.

Before that the Azzurri were on the wrong end of 1-0 defeats to both the United States and Uruguay and confidence will not be that high in the Italian camp ahead of their opener with Spain (3/1 – Euro 2012 Outright).

However, write Italy off at your peril, as they still have plenty of experience in their ranks, especially in defence and midfield, with the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi in the middle of the park and Giorgio Chiellini and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon at the back.

The worry for the for the 2006 World Cup winners will be a lack of goals in attack, with Mario Balotelli (8/1 – First Goalscorer), Antonio Cassano and Antonio Di Natale, in 74 appearances between them, only scoring 20 goals.

Italy always have the ability to keep clean sheets but if they fail to threaten the Spanish defence, which is questionable at times, they will struggle to get their campaign in Group C off to a winning start.

With the Republic of Ireland and Croatia battling in this group as well, the winner of Sunday’s encounter in Gdansk will certainly go a long way in deciding who will go through to the knockout stages of the competition as group winners.

Italy (14/1 – Euro 2012 Outright) have lost only eight of their 29 encounters with Spain, as they have proved difficult to beat against the defending champions, but with the Barca stars in their ranks, del Bosque should be celebrating an opening win in Group C.

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Lazio host Spanish outfit Atletico Madrid on Thursday night and both sides are likely to rest some key players for Europe, with league commitments the more pressing priority for the two clubs.

Lazio are currently third in Serie A and on course to book a spot in the Champions League, while Atletico Madrid are off the pace in their own hunt for a top-four finish and will be keen to keep their key men fresh for domestic action.

However, Lazio have an impressive record in Rome, both in Serie A and Europe, and could well be too strong for a weakened Atletico side, who managed just one win away from the Vicente Calderon in the Europa League group stages.

Lazio are 13/10 to secure the win, while the draw can be backed at 9/4 and Atletico Madrid are 21/10 to pick up a victory in the Italian capital.

Udinese are in the hunt for Champions League qualification and the Serie A side have also made changes for their European fixtures to date in the current campaign, opting to rest men for their midweek Europa fixtures.

However, despite the changes made by boss Francesco Guidolin for their European ties, Udinese remain unbeaten at home in Europe and have won 10 of their 12 Serie A fixtures to date at the Stadio Friuli.

Udinese host Greek side PAOK on Thursday and should be able to seal the victory which is priced at 8/11.  The draw is available at 5/2 and a PAOK win is 4/1.

Lokomotiv Moscow are a tough side to beat on home soil and the Russian outfit host Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.

Bilbao have taken their European commitments seriously this season, naming strong squads throughout the group stages, but Moscow is always a tricky place to go regardless of which side you happen to be facing. It should be a tight contest but home advantage could well be crucial and Lokomotiv can be backed at 7/5 to secure the win.

However, while Lokomotiv could win at home the second leg is a different matter all together and over the course of 180 minutes Bilbao should come out on top, with Athletic Bilbao 1/2 to qualify for the next round.

German side Schalke boast an unbeaten away record in Europe this season and the Bundesliga outfit travel to FC Viktoria Plzen, who failed to qualify from a Champions League group that included AC Milan and Barcelona.

Plzen are in the Europa League as they finished third in Group H ahead of BATE Borisov but they managed just one victory in their Champions League campaign and will struggle against Schalke.

Schalke are 6/5 to seal the victory and take an advantage back to Germany for the second leg, while a draw is priced at 11/5 and a home win is available at 12/5.

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