Each day our exclusive MATCH OF THE DAQ service previews the big match of the day – usually a televised game.

As well as the preview we also bring you the head to head records of the two teams as well as a recommended bet on BETDAQ for the match.

Spain U21 v Belarus U21
European Under-21 Championship 2011, Semi-finals
KO 17:00, Sky Sports 1

HEAD-TO-HEAD
(Max last 10 only)
28 Mar 2011 U21 International friendly Spain 1-1 Belarus

PREVIEW
Spain are only a game away from securing a final appearance and with that a chance to land their third European U21 Championship. The tournament favorites were left cursing after England snatched a point in the opening group game, but since then the side have cruised through to the last four.

Adrián López took his tournament tally to three goals with Spain’s second against Ukraine, while Valencia’s Juan Mata has two strikes to his name. Overall Spain found the back of the net six times in Group B and only conceded once in that period.

In contrast, Belarus won only one match in Group A and qualified by way of possessing a better three-way head-to-head calculation. Belarus will be keen to show that they fully deserve their place in the semis, but it’ll be a tough ask against an opponent of such quality.

Manager Georgi Kondratiev will take some confidence from his side’s 1-1 draw a few months back, but knows that their form must improve from the group showing.

If Belarus are to spring a surprise on Spain they must remain focused and expect to be chasing the ball for long periods of the match. In Spain’s three group contests they have had 59% possession against England, 66% against the Czech Republic and 64% against Ukraine.

Even at 18.0 on the ‘Daq’ I cannot see Belarus getting anything out of the game and Spain are a good bet to progress to the final. For a bit of extra value it would make sense to back Spain in the HT/FT market, something they’ve managed in both their victories in Denmark to date.

RECOMMENDATION: (1-10 points)
Spain HT/FT double result at around 1.63: 5 points

Tuesday’s Return: +2.65 points