Hosts favourites to land Confederations Cup
BRAZIL are 13-8 favourites for the Confederations Cup on home soil with the eight-team tournament giving punters a chance to assess the prospects of some leading contenders for next year's World Cup.
Bookmakers are expecting a two-horse race with Brazil and Spain dominating the market for the event which begins with the hosts taking on Japan in Brasilia.
Brazil are languishing at 22nd in the latest Fifa rankings but head the list with most firms while World Cup and European champions Spain are only slightly bigger at 7-4 - Coral make the pair 13-8 joint-favourites.
Brazil have made a sketchy start to 2013, losing to England at Wembley, drawing four times and winning just twice. Punters will be eager to see how they fare in a major tournament on home soil just 12 months before the serious business begins.
Spain will also be looking to show they have what it takes to become the first European team to win a World Cup in South America and, outside of the big two, Italy (7-1) and Uruguay (10-1) will also be hoping to make their case.
The line-up is completed by Mexico (14-1), Nigeria (40-1), Japan (50-1) and 5,000-1 outsiders Tahiti.
Uruguay's Luis Suarez is 9-1 favourite to be top goalscorer ahead of 10-1 Neymar of Brazil and Spain striker David Villa.
Neymar and Spanish catalyst Andres Iniesta are 12-1 market leaders to be named player of the tournament.
All matches are live on BBC1 or BBC3. Read the Racing Post every day for previews.
