Argentina is an excellent side, which always has more solutions at every position and a proper substitution is always ready on the bench. Kun Aguero and Tevez won’t be in their attack this time but that shouldn’t worry them too much as there are still Messi, Higuain, Milito (might not play) and many other great strikers. Sergio ‘Checho’ Batista is their new coach who signed with the team until 2014. He called up 25 players for this match, and there also won’t be Samuel and probably Milito on the squad this time. I think that with a bit weakened lineup, Argentina will have to fight hard to get the win and I feel like they won’t manage to achieve that goal.
Always unpleasant
Brazil should field the following lineup: Victor; Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Andre Santos; Ramires, Lucas, Elias, Ronaldinho; Robinho, Neymar. This Brazilian side seems a lot better than the one Argentina will use at the stadium in Doha. Brazil is always an unpleasant side to play against, and the same thing will be now as well but I don’t think they will be able to do much early in the game, and all things will probably be resolved in the 2nd half.
Neutral field, huge rivalry
This match is played on neutral field in Doha, Qatar, so none of the sides will have a home-field advantage obviously even though this is just a friendly, there is still a huge rivalry between these sides. If there will be anything to be decided in this match, it’s gonna happen in the 2nd half and in my view, there will be a tight first half that will end without the winner. It’s hard to pick the winner between this sides, on one side we’ve got Messi and the crew, on another, I will just say Brazil. That team is always unpleasant as they play attractive footie no matter what lineup they use, and their aim is to have fun on the field. My advice will be a halftime draw, but eventually I give a slight advantage to Brazil to win it at the end. Good luck!
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Prediction:
Tip: X HT
Odd: 2.10
Bookie: Bet365
After their clash with Iran from Abu Dhabi, Brazil will travel to derby in order to face Ukraine. Despite winning 3-0 against Iran and missing several other good chances, Brazil wasn’t impressive. They looked chaotic at time and, despite Menezes’ will to change some of the players from the standard team, I doubt he could replace more than 2-3 of his regulars. For this game, Coutinho will take a sit on the bench, after proving against Iran that he still has a lot to learn before wearing the Brazilian t-shirt. He could be replace by Barca’s Adriano or Eliseu, this meaning the 4-3-3 could change to a 4-4-2.
Many missing players
Ukraine is still licking its wounds after missing the World Cup, them not managing more than a 2-2 draw against Canada last week. They will be without many regular faces for tonight, including Shevcenko, Chigrinsky, Yarmolenko, Shovkosvsky, Rusol or Mykhalik. Pretty impressive list. Still they have a lot of quality remaining, and players like Milevskyi, Alyev or Tymoschuk could trouble any team in the world. It is worth mentioning that besides Kucher and maybe Mandzyuk, the defensive line is very inexperienced, none of the other defenders having more than 5-6 appearances for the national team.
Goals
Brazil showed its expected quality upfront against Iran but they looked totally unfocused at times, while their defense managed to make mistakes even against such a poor opponent. Iran had a wrongly disallowed goal in the 5th minute while Nekounam managed to miss from the goal line in the second half. Ukraine is from a different league compared with the Persians and I believe they could trouble Brazil here. Also, the Brazilians should be more focused and motivated against Ukraine and this could only lead to an entertaining fixture. The goal line is quite low considering both team’s offensive capabilities and defensive issues so I am willing to try a bet on goals.
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Prediction:
Tip: Over 2.5
Odd: 1.90
Bookie: Betway
Czech republic are host of this world championship and already book place in quarter finals beside yesterday loss from Spain.But I think they will be motivated to win this game since with loss they will face USA in next round and that will be over for them.With Australia they have better chances even I doubt they can pass through.Anyway they are hosts and they are obligated to play for win and for theire fans which they disappoint against Spain not by the loss but because of 20 points margin and only 4 scored points in last quarter.They are good team and beside losses against European teams Russia and Spain they won all other matches aginst Korea, Argentina and Japan.
Disappointment of the tournamen
Brasil is disappointment of this championship and beside close wins against weak Mali and OT win against Japan they lost all other games including loss from Korea.Russia and Spain beat them convincingly and another loss is expected today.They will fight for quarterfinals but they will be tired after yesterdays overtime with Japan.They don’t play good against European teams and it will be harder since Czech are hosts and will have fans on theire back.
More scoring teams than the line suggests
Both of these teams played some big unders in their group matches and because of that line is low. I expect more fast and scoring game today since Czech are more offensive team that shown so far and also Brasil.They both find their scoring in games with Korea and Japan and also preparation games support this with results like:Brasil-Cuba 73:79,Brasuil-Poland 75:71,Brasil-Argentina 77:71,Brasiul-Japan 71:83 and Czech-Greece 70:70,Czech-greece 110:61,Czech-USA 79:96 and Czech-China 71:65.If game stay close till the end some free throws and why not another overtime can be in our favore.
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Prediction:
Tip: Over 132
Odd: 1.96
Bookie: Pinnacle
Argentina barely missed the first spot in their group, which would guarantee them a much easier path to the medal but anyway, they have got enough quality to match any team in the world. Surely, they are a bit old, and rely too much on the individuals and despite their sloppy play in the first couple of matches at the WC, they showed a very good display against Serbia, clearly wanting to win and being close to do that for the most of the game. They had a double digit lead in the first quarter but failed to play good defense, which helped Serbia get back in the game, and later to turn it around completely and lead by 9. However, thanks to another terrific performance by Scola (32 points), Delfino`s great momentum from the distance and of course experienced Prigioni, the Argies again came back and were just one shot away from the victory. In this clash, they will be boosted by the return of their center, Oberto, and if they only had Nocioni and Ginobili on the squad, undoubtedly they would be the main title candidates.
Dangerous
Brazil is an amazing team. It seems like some great basketball is being played in this country, despite the fact they haven`t recorded a good result at the big competitions for a very long time. It seems that this year their team has finally matured and a few really classy players have stepped up and are playing great collectively. Despite the fact, they are playing without their dominant NBA center Nene who is out for the WC through an injury, they have enough quality players at all positions. At the center they`ve got two excellent NBA centers Splitter and Varejao, and on the shooting positions they`ve got Huertas, Machado, and playmaker Barbosa, which creates a killer lineup that is very fast and aggressive, so no surprise they were just one shot away from beating the `Dream Team` in the group stages.
Gauchos to defeat Kariokas
I am taking this bet 5 days before the game as I believe the odds will drop even more. They were opened at 2.35 for Argentina`s win and have already dropped by 0.1 in less than 24 hours and by the time people realize this should actually be a totally even match, the value will surely be gone. Brazil is a good team but no way they are better than Argentina, who`s got the experience on their side, and that should be the key thing here. Argentina will probably control the game tempo here and they will try to play slower which shouldn`t suit Brazil much, and I believe in one very close game that will also be pretty nervous and intense. Eventually, I think Argentina can come out as a winner simply because they know how to win these matches, and their big rival from South America has been inferior to them for years. I expect to see that domination continue, at least for a few more years. The odds are very valuable. Good luck.
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Prediction:
Tip: 1
Odd: 2.25
Bookie: Bluesq
This will be the meeting between once-upon-a-time a decent squad that faced numerous absences so they are not looking too well. They are without their key engine Tony Parker, and a few other main players from the last EC (3 regulars didn’t show up). All that reflected their performances and results. Their defense is great but in the offense things are really not working out, especially not now.
Quality in the paint, quick guards
Faced with the absence of their best player Hilario, they are still hanging on. Last night they managed to defeat Ivory Coast with no problem, scoring in high numbers (94 pts in total), and currently have a lot of in-form players. In the pain, the strength is their key, and decent Batist is brought as a replacement, but there are also excellent Varejao and Tiago Splitter, which is really an excellent center lineup, while on the guard position there is short Barbosa who dominates, which makes up for a very good team.
Revenge
Neither side was brilliant during the preparations but Brazil has got more quality performances, and a few good wins. They easily ran over Ivory Coast while the French have a lot of defensive problems and really hardly score 70 pts in their games, which will turn out to be their main problem at the upcoming WC so I don’t see them as winners here. They have 6 prep matches, 4 losses and 3 of them are against the teams that are not among the top world sides and that realistically shouldn’t have happened. Interestingly, these 2 sides played a match behind closed doors 3 days ago and France won by 1. Tonight I expect more motivated Brazil, who should pay revenge to an objectively weaker side. Not too high stakes cause the match is played in France. Good luck!
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Prediction:
Tip: 2
Odd: 1.85
Bookie: Primebet
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