FIFA World Cup - 2022 - World Cup Final Stage Argentina VS Croatia

 

 

Analysis:

Argentina

Angel Di Maria featured from the bench in Argentina's semi-final win over the Netherlands and might return to the starting XI here.

 

Lionel Scaloni changed to a 3-5-2 for Friday's penalty shootout success and may revert to a more familiar 4-3-3, with Di Maria and Julian Alvarez flanking Lionel Messi. Full-backs Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna are suspended, with Nicolas Tagliafico set to deputise for the latter.

 

Argentina were taken to penalties late on by the Netherlands on Friday night as they threw away a two-goal lead. Nevertheless, they held their nerve to book a semi-final spot against Croatia.

 

Croatia

Josip Stanisic remains a doubt for Croatia, but is their only injury concern for Tuesday's semi-final. Zlatko Dalic may reward Bruno Petkovic with a starting spot after he scored from the bench late on against Brazil to take that quarter-final tie to penalties.

 

Zlatko Dalic's side, conversely, scored an equaliser deep into extra time to take their tie with Brazil to a penalty shootout. They have won their four penalty shootouts at a World Cup, so will look to adopt a similar conservative approach to frustrate Argentina.

 

Prediction:

Croatia are not to be underestimated, but with Lionel Messi in the ranks, Argentina will certainly fancy their chances of reaching the 2022 World Cup final.

 

 

​FIFA World Cup -- Morocco vs Portugal Game Preview

 

 

Analysis:

Morocco will face quarter-final opponents Portugal at Al Toumama Stadium on Saturday.

 

Morocco

Morocco reached that stage for the first time with a strong penalty shootout win after holding up against Spain. They were the fourth African team to reach the last eight at a World Cup, and the first in 12 years.

 

Portugal

Portugal beat Switzerland 6-1 in the round of 16. After an unstoppable opening win, 21-year-old Ramos scored a fairy-tale hat-trick in that win. Santos had watched his team secure safe passage into the World Cup's first phase as Group H champions, and with three wins and 12 goals to their record already.

 

Prediction

They did incredibly well to get here, considering that Morocco is no pushover. However, they are up against one of the tournament's toughest defenses and a Portuguese squad that excelled at all levels without Ronaldo.

 

 

Pick: Portugal win

FIFA World Cup / Netherlands vs Argentina Tips & Match Preview

 

 

Analysis:

Netherlands will meet Argentina in the quarter final of this World Cup at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Friday.

 

Netherlands

After taking three wins and a draw in their four matches in this FIFA World Cup, Netherlands have extended their unbeaten run into 19 matches across all competitions. In the round of 16, they beat USA with 3-1, and they have two clean sheet in last four outings, as well as having score two goals or more in three of those matches. Cody Gakpo has performed well in the team, with scoring three goals in their opening three rounds.

 

Argentina

Argentina comes from three straight wins in this tournament, even though they lost to Saudi Arabia in the opening game. They have three goals in these four matches. However, they lost to Netherlands in three out of their seven meetings. They have failed to score in the last three h2h games even though they beat their opponent in the 2014 World Cup semis by a penalty shootout.

 

Prediction:

There is no action on goals in their latest meetings, but considering both sides’ performances especially on attack in this tournament, I am going to back we will back a scoring draw at 90 minutes.

 

Pick: Draw

 

Italian Serie B / Genoa vs SudTirol Tips & Match Preview

 

 

Analysis:

The 5th-placed Genoa will play host SudTirol who is ranking eighth on Thursday.

 

Genoa

Genoa have been in poor run lately. They failed to win any of their last five rounds and only took two points. Their last home match comes from a 0-1 at the hands of Cittadella, before that, they have three home draws in a row. Noted as well, there have been seven with under 2.5 goals in these eight home League matches.

 

SudTirol

SudTirol have a poor start to this season with three successive defeats. Since then, they recovered soon and have been unbeatable for 12 rounds. Although they drew their last five rounds with a draw, they have managed to score in each of these games. Also, they are unbeatable for last five away League matches and won three.

 

Prediction:

SudTirol have been in better forms recently, and they played well away from home and have potential on attack. I will back the away side to win or draw this game.

 

1X2 Pick: X2

​International Club Friendly -- Inter Milan vs Red Bull Salzburg Game Preview

 

 

Analysis:

Inter Milan and Red Bull Salzburg will square off in a friendly match on Wednesday.

 

Inter Milan

Inter's attempts to improve their chances of winning the Scudetto and advance further in the Champions. They will return to competitive activity with a key match against league leaders Napoli, thus - now 11 points behind - can ill afford to start poorly.

 

Red Bull Salzburg

Salzburg were aiming to advance to the Champions League knockout stages for a second straight season before losing to Chelsea at the end of Octobe but they failed. They will have a winter holiday after returning to Austria, and then play will resume in 2023 with them starting the season six points in front in the Bundesliga.

 

Prediction

Given the nature of their meeting, both teams' priority will be improving their form and fitness, which could result in a game that is open and features at least a few goals for each team.

 

 

Pick: Over 3 Goals

​FIFA World Cup -- Portugal vs Switzerland Game Preview

 

 

Analysis:

At Lusail Stadium on Tuesday, Group H champion Portugal will take against Group G's runner-up Switzerland.

 

Portugal

Portugal made a strong start to their campaign. They only needed one point in the last round of group games to guarantee themselves the top spot and automatic entry into the knockout rounds. Ronaldo's poor performance in front of goal is a major issue. Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva, a midfield duo, are primarily responsible for scoring goals.

 

Switzerland

Switzerland began their incredible journey to their first World Cup by winning two of their opening three games in Qatar. They have never before won three games at a single World Cup finals and have missed the quarterfinals in seven of their previous efforts.

 

Prediction

The Portuguese are hoping for the championship, and based on their first two performances, they have a rather cohesive team dynamic. Since it will be difficult to divide the second number into two parts, the Swiss are unlikely to close in defense. We think there will be a lot of objectives in the conflict.

 

 

Pick: Over 2 Goals

FIFA World Cup Last 16th – Croatia vs Japan

 

 

Analysis:

FIFA World Cup Last 16th in the earlier kick off on Monday 5th December, Angie has expected a game that we could see it may go into extra time. Plenty of freak results from the group stage had brought a lot of surprises and caught most punters off guard, worldwide bookies are already profiting from the margin they have gained just on the group stage alone. Angie is hoping to land you a 4th win in a row with free tips today, so mark my word from the queen of hearts of football!

 

Japan – the Blue Samurai have been very resilient from their Group stage so far and pulled off a surprise result. Having beaten Germany and Spain 2-1, their confidence and self-belief is on a high, however, a shock loss to Costa Rica 0-1 is a concern to me when the pressure is on the Japanese.

 

Croatia - a very disappointing show in this world cup so far, they had only managed one win, a 4-1 over Canada, and came from behind in the early stage. Then the Croatian drew blank against Morocco and Belgium did not convince me a bit from the former 3rd place finished back in the 2018 World Cup. Players are also aging and this is a weakness that the Japanese could exploit.

 

Odds Analysis

Japan ranks 24th in the FIFA World Ranking, whilst Croatia ranks 12th. Worldwide bookies put Croatia as the favorite with Asian Handicap at -0.5, however, the odds already drifting away on Croatia showing most punters believe Japan could hold on for a draw in the last 16th. Japan 1X shows a decent value at the price of around 1.83 on average.

 

Asian Goal Line opens at 2.25 goals, bookies neither keen to see too many goals. With so many 0-0 results in Group games, surely not another one. I expect a 1-1 draw perhaps with Both Team To Score at odds of 2.08 Pinnacle seems a decent investment option.

 

Head to Head

 

Last 2 meetings, both games ended up with under 2.5 goals.

 

Verdict:

 

First Choice: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE