The European under 21 Championship comes to a close tonight with England taking on their old footballing nemisis Germany.  Make no mistake, this may be an under 21s tournament but both sets of payers involved will take it just as seriously as they would if it were at senior level.

England go in to the fixture as favourites with the international football betting odds and it is perhaps a fair reflection on how the two teams have performed.  Stuart Pearce’s side powered through the group stages and then took a 3-0 lead into the break in their semi-final against hosts Sweden.  The Swedish youngsters fought back to a 3-3 draw though but the English managed to get thr0ugh on penalties – a very rare feat indeed for the nation who have had their hearts broken in numerous shoot-outs over the last two decades or so.

Germany came second in the same group as England and the two sides have already played out a fairly tame 1-1 draw.  The final will be a very different affair, in the group game both sides had already qualified and played under-strength sides.  The Germans beat Italy in the semi-final but in truth they were less than convincing.  The Italians dominated the game but were undone when a speculative shot from range managed to beat the keeper.  Despite their pressure they couldn’t break down the German unit and the Germans hung on for a 1-0 win.

England will be without the ever impressive Joe Hart in goal after he picked up a suspension.  He will be replaced by either Joe Lewis or Scott Loach, who will have big gloves to fill after the City stopper’s impressive performances through the course of the competition.  There is probably more talent in the England side, or at least more experience, as they have a wealth of players already playing Premier League football.  Arsenal starlet Theo Walcott is also a regular with the senior side while Mark Noble (West Ham), Fabrice Muamba (Bolton – pictured), Micah Richards (Man City), James Milner (Aston Villa) and Lee Cattermole (Wigan) regularly feature in the Premier League.

It is easy to see why England are the betting favourites but the Germans should not be discounted as they are also a talented bunch of youngsters.  Indeed they wouldn’t have got to the final if they didn’t have a very real chance of winning the competition.  A boost for Germany could be the return of captain Sami Khedira, who looks to have shrugged off an injury.  Right-back Andreas Beck, the goal scorer against the Italians, also looks a qulaity player and will cause problems for the England defence.

The match should be a great encounter and full of passion.  England haven’t lifted the trophy since way back in 1984 and they’ll know how important it is to win when they take on Germany in Malmo tonight.  Whatever the outcome it should be an excellent tie and well worth tuning in for at 19.45 (GMT) today.