Saturday evening, at 17:00, Brazil receives the replica of the Panama national team in a match to be held on Estadio Dragao in Porto. The difference in value between the two bands is incontestable and can be easily seen in the odds of the match.
After eliminating from the quarter-finals at the World Cup in Russia, Brazil won the next six matches and in three of them it was 1-0. Moreover, the national auriverde has not received a goal in a friendly match since November 2017! Most likely, Brazil will have no problems, with a very competitive batch available.
Panama, however, does not look impressive and did not look impressive even at the World Cup, where it hardly survived in the group with England, Belgium and Tunisia. Without winning 11 matches, the white-blue national team does not have high-level players, and that will make the difference on the lawn. Panama has won the first goal in each of its last six games and Central America has 16 goals in the 4 straight duels with Brazil.
We would be tempted to bet on many goals, even if we scored less than three goals in 5 of Brazil’s previous six matches. The difference in quality is too high in this friendly match, and Panama has scored at least one goal in each of its last 10 games. As a consequence, in 4 of Panama’s last 5 matches, at least three goals have been scored, one outcome that we are expecting once again. Brazil comes after 1-0 with Cameroon, Uruguay and Argentina, and a 2-0 with Saudi Arabia and a 5-0 with El Salvador. All these were friendly games. Panama has recently lost to the US (0-3), Ecuador (1-2) and Honduras (0-1), draw against South Korea (2-2). The last direct duel took place in 2016, when the country’s Café Country won 2-0.
Brazilian players include Alisson, Thiago Silva, Alex Sandro, Coutinho, Felipe Anderson, Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino, and in the first “11” we can see Richarlison, Everton striker. Brazil is going through a reconstruction period and has many valuable young people who want to stand up in these friendly games. Neymar is missing, injured, but his absence will be easy to fill.
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,52
