Spain are in need of three points after salvaging a draw in the opening game against Italy, whereas Ireland have all but lost their chances to go through following the 3-1 defeat to Croatia.

La Furia Roja arrived to Poland and Ukraine as one of the main candidates for the trophy, but they didn’t really impress in their opening game.

Spain somewhat struggled to find their game against a very good Italy side and they can be more than happy with one point from that match.

Vincent del Bosque was heavily criticized for his decision to start with Cesc Fabergas as a false nine, but it was the Barcelona midfielder who scored the equalizer in the end.

The experienced boss is likely to change his approach for the game against Ireland and everybody expects to see Fernando Torres in the starting line-up.

The Chelsea striker missed two good opportunities against the Azzurri, but he is now 2.38 (11/8) with Ladbrokes to score against Ireland instead.

Vincent del Bosque has absolutely no injury worries ahead of the clash with Republic of Ireland, although Jordi Alba, Alvaro Arbeloa and Fernando Torres are all one yellow card away from suspension.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Casillas – Arbeloa, Pique, Ramos, Alba – Xavi, Busquets, Xabi Alonso – Silva, Torres, Iniesta.

Republic of Ireland were seen as major underdogs when they were placed in the same group as Spain, Italy and Croatia, but the Irish were tipped to put up a decent fight against all three sides.

In all fairness, Giovanni Trapattoni’s side produced a passionate display in their opening game against Croatia, and were unfortunate not to get anything from the game.

Their opponents scored two lucky goals while the Irish were not awarded a clear penalty, so the 3-1 scoreline was a bit harsh on them.

Despite the result that left the team in a very difficult position before the clashes against Spain and Italy, coach Giovanni Trapattoni is adamant nothing is lost just yet, meaning we can expect another inspired performance from the Irish.

However, that is unlikely to prove enough to stop the reigning champions from winning, so even odds of 1.29 (2/7) offered at Bodog on La Furia Roja have a certain value.

Richard Dunne and Darron Gibson both trained on Tuesday after recovering from injury and they will be in contention for starting place, while Jonathan Walters is set to be preferred to Kevin Doyle up front.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Given – O’Shea, Dunne, St Ledger, Ward – Duff, Andrews, Whelan, McGeady – Walters, Keane.