BILLY BUNTER

Weblog: The football punter

Stalemate in Kiev would not surprise in the least

Italy are traditionally slow starters in major tournaments but they burst out of the blocks at Euro 2012.

They've had a tournament of two halves already - they were as tasty as Mama's homemade tagliatelle in their opener against Spain and the first 45 minutes against Croatia.

From then on, though, they've looked like the footballing equivalent of a can of spaghetti hoops that's been sitting at the back of a cupboard since Italia 90.

So it's hard to know how the Italians will approach their quarter-final against England and the one bet that's crying out to me is the draw.

England could easily have drawn all three of their group matches and Mrs B keeps asking me why the shelves I put up the other day aren't as solid as Roy Hodgson's two banks of four.

The old girl never fails to surprise me with her tactical acumen. It's safe to assume that Roy's not going to go all Kevin Keegan on us and Italy are happy to play the waiting game too so this one could go the distance.

I might have a sneaky bet on England to win on penalties as well.

I've been reading all about the Three Lions practising their spot-kicks and, as they say, practice makes... it even more embarrassing when they choke under pressure and blaze our first three penalties high, wide and handsome.