Bastian Schweinsteiger can be voted best player tonight

Germany take on Spain tonight in the 2010 World Cup semi final and it promises to be an epic match between two of the world’s best footballing nations.

Spain are the 6/4 (Bet365) favourites to win the match in 90-minutes, with Germany a best-priced 2/1 (Coral) to do the same.

The match is being billed as a battle between the World Cup’s two in-form striker, David Villa, who is 9/2 (Bwin) to open the scoring and his German counterpart Miroslav Klose (13/2, PaddyPower).

That pair dominate the betting to be man of the match, with Villa 4/1 (Blue Square) and Klose 6/1,(Blue Square) to be voted the best player on the pitch at FIFA.com.

The key to the game, however, will be further back in the pitch, where German playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger faces off against Xavi Hernandez. Both players dictate the play for their respective sides and whoever handles the match better is likely to be on the winning side.

Xavi, who is 13/2 (VictorChandler) to be the man of the match, is an excellent passer of the ball and he will try to control the tempo of the game from a deep position. The Barcelona midfielder doesn’t, however, score very many goals and so he will need an absolutely exceptional display, probably with at least one assist, to capture the imaginations of the man of the match voters.

Schweinsteiger, who can be backed at 7/1 (Bet365) to be named the best player on display tonight, is a far more dynamic midfielder. He plays a withdrawn role for Germany, but as he showed against Argentina, he also enjoys getting forward and is an excellent dribbler, who can create opportunities out of nothing. The Bayern Munich star is also an excellent striker of the ball and will be dangerous from long-range.

There is a strong chance of Schweinsteiger getting on the scoresheet at some point this evening (7/1, SportingBet) and at Bettingpro we fancy Germany to win. If they do, it is unlikely that anyone on the pitch will have out-performed Schweinsteiger and he is good value to be named man of the match, an award he picked up against Argentina in the last round.

Recommendation

Man of the Match – Bastian Schweinsteiger (7/1, Bet365)