However, these tournaments often produce surprises and it’s not always the big names that come to the fore. Over the last few years we’ve seen the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Andrey Arshavin and Arjen Robben all come of age at the Euros and there are a number of Premier League youngsters who could announced themselves to the footballing world this summer.

The first one to look out for is Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny who is expected to be between the sticks for co-hosts Poland (3/1 to win Group A).

After years of struggling to find a first-class stopper, the Gunners were forced to take a punt on youngster Szczesny and it’s certainly a gamble that has paid off and he’s now undoubtedly the club’s number one.

He has also recently established himself in the international side and his country’s performances will have a lot to do with how he deals with their opponents’ attacking threats.

Real Madrid are rumoured to be keeping an eye on the confident 22-year-old and a string of strong showings in the summer will only help to raise his profile.

Another Arsenal player who could make a big impact is controversial striker Nicklas Bendtner who will lead Denmark’s (12/1 to win Group B) line as they look to progress from Group B.

Whether you love him or hate him, there is no doubt that Bendtner is a talent and he always seems to produce his best on the bigger stages. The 24-year-old has also said that after spending the season on loan at Sunderland, he will never play for the Gunners again meaning he’ll have something to play for as he’ll want to impress.

Despite all his doubters, the Copenhagen-born star does have fans within the game and some good displays in the summer, could persuade one of Europe’s top sides to sign him.

Group C’s Premier League-based player to watch has to be Sunderland and Republic of Ireland (11/1 to win Group C) winger James McLean who, after coming from nowhere this season, will have no fear when it comes to facing Europe’s top nations.

McLean was unknown until Martin O’Neill took over at the Stadium of Light in December but has since established himself in the Black Cats side with a series of dazzling displays.

In this era of patient build-up and intricate passing, the 23-year-old is a totally different animal and his direct running and pace may cause some huge problems, as his trickery could open up teams from the start while his pace could expose tired defences if he’s used as an impact sub.

In Group D there are a number of youngsters to pick from but out of all of them Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck (66/1 – Tournament Top Goalscorer) looks as if he could have a massive tournament.

For years the 21-year-old has been tipped for the top and now looks to be fulfilling the promise after establishing himself in the United first team.

With team-mate Rooney suspended for the first two matches, Welbeck could get the nod to lead the line for the Three Lions and he’ll be confident that he has the ability to fire them to the knockout stages.

With the dual capabilities of being able to both hold the ball up and run in behind, the youngster can cause problems to any defence and this summer could see him emerge as one of the biggest names in the game.

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Sevilla have had a relatively disappointing season so far and appear to have become the league’s draw specialists, having drawn five of their nine games.

They have been in decline over the last few seasons, struggling to repeat the glory days of the Juande Ramos regime when they won consecutive UEFA Cups in 2006 and 2007.

However, look down their squad list and there are still a number of world class players at the club. Taken individually, these players could form part of a side which could mount a major challenge for the title.

Home-grown winger Jesus Navas (11/4 to score anytime) is undoubtedly their star player. Navas was part of Spain’s World Cup winning side in 2010, coming off the bench in the final to play a major part in Andres Iniesta’s winning goal against the Netherlands.

He is so often the ‘Sevillistas’ main source of inspiration and his ability to unlock defences is paramount to his side’s success. His combination with either Diego Perotti or Piotr Trochowski (9/4 to score anytime) on the other wing will be vital if Marcelino’s side are to win the game.

After being promoted via the play-offs last season, Granada have struggled to adapt to life in La Liga and are currently in the middle of a run of nine games without a victory following their shock win against Villarreal in September.

Despite their poor results, Fabri Gonzalez’s team have impressed with their attempts to play football but it is more than likely that they will be relying on their defence to help them grind out a result in Seville.

Key to this will be the performance of vice-captain Diego Mainz (14/1 to score anytime), who was one of the stars in their promotion winning campaign and has continued his good form into this season. The former Rayo Vallecano player is likely to be the man charged with controlling Sevilla’s Spanish international striker Alvaro Negredo and their battle will no doubt have a major bearing on the result.

Although Granada will undoubtedly look to take the game to their more illustrious opponents, Sevilla should have too much and if they get off to a fast start, the likes of Negredo and Navas could run riot.

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Ashley Williams

Wales have yet to pick up a point in their qualifying campaign to date, losing away at Montenegro and at home to Bulgaria, both 1-0, and currently prop the table – along with tonight’s opponents.

The Swiss have also lost both of their opening group games, 3-1 at home to England and 1-0 away at Montenegro, and defeat for either side will seriously harm their chances of even finishing second.

Wales captain Williams, who is hoping to shake off an ankle injury, concedes that Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side may well dominate large parts of the game, but he believes that Bale (7/2 to score at anytime) will provide plenty of attacking threat.

“Everyone knows how good a player he is,” said Williams.

“He’s probably going to find it tough when he plays for Wales, especially if we don’t have Craig Bellamy and Aaron Ramsey playing.

“He’s our biggest attacking threat and teams are going to pay special attention to him.

“But I think he’s a good enough player to deal with that.

“They will have a lot of the ball and hopefully we can get it to him on the break and let him do his stuff.

“I think he really gave it a go against Bulgaria, he did make things happen, and if he plays in an advanced role, that’s the way he plays.”

The 1-0 defeat in Montenegro last month saw John Toshack end his six-year reign as the Wales (33/1 to qualify for Euro 2012) boss, with Brian Flynn taking over the senior side on a temporary basis following an impressive spell in charge of the Under-21s.

Flynn is looking to use the two games he is leading the side to make a case for a permanent role, although he did his cause no favours with a 1-0 defeat to Bulgaria on Friday.

However, Flynn has not been helped by a whole host of injuries to his squad which will leave him without 12 players for tonight’s game and Blackpool midfielder David Vaughan insists all the players will be doing their best for the manager.

“No one wants to let him [Flynn] down and hopefully he will get the job, regardless of the results, if we play well,” said Vaughan.

“Hopefully we can do the job for him.

“We have only had a few days’ training with him but if he is around long term I think you will see the benefits in the performances.”

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James Tomkins

The Hammers currently sit rock bottom of the Premier League table, with their only point coming in a 1-1 draw at Stoke last weekend.

However, the side managed their first win away from home in 13 months with a 2-1 win over Sunderland in the Carling Cup third round on Tuesday night.

Goals from Frederic Piquionne and Victor Obinna were enough to give the Hammers the win, and Tomkins wants the players to take confidence from this victory and take it forward into their Premier League clash with Tottenham (West Ham 13/5 to win, Spurs evens, draw 23/10) at Upton Park on Saturday.

West Ham need to make their home ground a fortress if they are to climb off the bottom of the table, but face a tough challenge against a Spurs side sitting in fifth spot and looking for a Premier League top-four finish for the second season in succession (Spurs 11/4 to finish in top four).

“The lads are buzzing. It is good to get our confidence back and start on winning ways. We need to get in the habit of doing this now as in the last few games we had played well but hadn’t taken anything,” said the Hammers Academy graduate.

“We did it against Stoke on Saturday. Not many teams go there and get a draw. We were able to build on that with the victory against Sunderland.

“It would be nice to have a cup run but first it is back to Tottenham in the league on Saturday and that is a massive game.”

West Ham boss Avram Grant paid particular praise to his front two of Piquionne and Obinna after the Sunderland win. He knows that goals have been hard to come by this season and the Hammers need someone to score regularly if they are to win games on a consistent basis.

The club’s striker’s inability to get goals led to the relegation dogfight last season and all the fans around Upton Park are hoping for no repeat this campaign.

Grant claims the club is making progress and he wants his players to continue to perform “with the same style” and convert chances into goals.

Speaking about his front two, he added: “They worked very hard, they moved very well and they played well together – but all the team behind them played well..

“We passed the ball very well in the midfield so it was more easy for them to find space to score two fantastic goals.”

After the Spurs game, West Ham (8/15 to stay up) then face Fulham at Upton Park before travelling to Wolves in their next two Premier League games.

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Speculation has been rampant over the summer that the Spanish star may move on to pastures new after enduring a disappointing campaign at Anfield.

Liverpool failed to qualify for the Champions League after finishing in a lowly seventh place in the Premier League. They now face a third qualifying round clash against Rabotnicki or Mika to qualify for the Europa League.

Torres himself was plagued with injury but the appointment of Hodgson, who succeeded Rafael Benitez in the Liverpool hotseat two weeks ago, is seen by many as the start of a new era at the Merseyside club.

Hodgson was quick to meet his star players, including Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, but has only just had the opportunity to meet with Torres after the Spaniard returned home following his World Cup exploits.

The Liverpool boss admitted afterwards that he found the striker a “very pleasant man”.

He went on to say “As far as we are concerned he is a Liverpool player and we want him to remain a Liverpool player. He is not for sale and we don’t welcome any offers for him. We want to keep him.

“We spoke about football, the World Cup, his injury, and I told him how much I am looking forward to working with him.”

Hodgson also confirmed that managing director Christian Purslow was at the meeting with Torres and spoke to him for a far greater length of time than he did.

Meanwhile, Liverpool officials flew to Spain to see Torres in order to assess the extent of the injury he sustained in last Sunday?s World Cup final. A slight tear in an adductor muscle has ruled the player out of action for thenext three weeks.

This means that Torres is unlikely to feature in the Europa League clash between Rabotnicki or Mika, whilst it is doubtful whether he will play many pre-season games before Liverpool’s tough opening match against Arsenal on August 15 (Liverpool 5/4, draw 23/10, Arsenal 7/4).

Hodgson has also had talks with Gerrard, which he believes were positive. He made it clear that Liverpool don?t want to sell their captain and also stated that they have had no offers for him, despite rumours to the contrary.

Meanwhile, the situation regarding Javier Mascherano is a little more complicated as Hodgson has yet to receive a response from his texts and voice messages. However, he believes this is not unusual as Mascherano is probably recovering from a gruelling World Cup back in Argentina.

Hodgson also dismissed rumours linking him with a move for Nice striker Loic Remy. He said; “He’s a player who was mentioned to me by the scouting department and a player the club were following before I came.

“He’s a player I know very little about. If I am going to be interested in a player I am going to have to watch him playing, study him and make judgments which I have not been able to.”

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Spain

The Barcelona playmaker has struggled with injuries for the majority of 2010, missing a large part of the Catalan giants run-in with a thigh injury

Spain (21/10 top European team) coach Vincent del Bosque claims Iniesta came off as a precautionary measure after feeling a slight twinge in his thigh.

The 26-year-old will have a scan on Wednesday to determine the extent of the problem with Del Bosque likely to be crossing his fingers it isn’t serious after Iniesta set up two of Spain’s six goals before he was forced off.

Iniesta is just the latest injury concern the Euro 2008 champions have had coming into the World Cup, with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres and Xavi all carrying problems heading into their series of warm-up games.

However, La Furia fans will have been delighted to see Torres and Fabregas get on the score sheet during a vintage performance by the World Cup favourites.

David Villa (8/1f top goalscorer) got the opening goal in the rout after being played through by Iniesta before the Barcelona man set up David Silva for a second shortly afterwards.

Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso got Spain’s third with Fabregas and Torres getting the fourth and fifth respectively, Barcelona winger Pedro getting the sixth as the nation recorded their 11th straight victory.

Iniesta’s injury aside it was the perfect way for Spain to round off their build-up to the World Cup, especially given Torres’ comments after the game where he claimed he was now over his spat of injuries.

“The injury has passed and now I’m able to help my team-mates, so it’s time to enjoy it,” said Torres.

“Tomorrow (Wednesday) I’m sure there will be a lot of optimism and euphoria but we know it will be difficult.”

The Liverpool forward was making his first appearance since undergoing knee surgery in April and it will be vital he stays fit if Del Bosque’s men are to challenge for the World Cup.

Fabregas’ return could also prove timely should Iniesta’s injury be serious, the Arsenal man having not played since he cracked a bone in his leg during the Gunners’ 2-2 with Barcelona in March.

Spain depart for South Africa on Thursday hoping for an easy ride through the group stages having been drawn alongside Switzerland, Honduras and Chile in Group H.

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Chelsea

The 28-year-old is set to see his contract expire with the west London outfit at the end of June and there are plenty of clubs interested in securing his services should he fail to negotiate a new deal with Chelsea.

The likes of Manchester United, West Ham, Tottenham and Arsenal have all been linked with a move for the England (13/2 to win the World Cup) international, who is stalling over signing a new contract due to money issues.

Cole allegedly wants to see his weekly pay rise from £80,000 to £100,000, a sum Chelsea are unwilling to match.

It seems unlikely that any of the other clubs believed to be interested in Cole would be prepared to match his wage demands and as such he may have to settle for what the Blues are offering.

However, having been used sparingly by manager Carlo Ancelotti last season, Cole might see his future lying elsewhere.

Manchester United (2/1 2010/11 Premier League champions) have long been credited with an interest in the former West Ham (1500/1) youngster, although it could cost them a bit to persuade him to move out of London.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has said he thought the club couldn’t afford Cole’s wage demands, and West Ham would appear to be in a similar boat with their financial troubles.

Arsenal looks the most likely destination for Cole and Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has previously admitted the proposition of signing Cole was “interesting”.

The north London club are desperate to strengthen their side ahead of the new season having failed to claim any silverware since their 2005 FA Cup success.

With captain Cesc Fabregas reportedly on the verge of leaving, Wenger could be handed a big transfer budget to try and replace the Spaniard, with Cole a possible candidate to try and fill the void left by Fabergas.

However, any ideas Arsenal have about signing the playmaker could be stopped in their tracks following Wilkins’ comments.

He says the Blues are still fighting to keep Cole and would be very happy to see him stay at Stamford Bridge.

“We’ve obviously been in dialogue with Joe for months now and it’s pretty evident that Carlo and myself would love Joe to stay but it’s down now to the club to see what we can do,” said Wilkins.

“We sincerely hope Joe stays with us – he’s a smashing guy and he’s a wonderful footballer so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

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