Ivory Coast vs Portugal
FreeToday’s featured game is the World Cup game between Ivory Coast and Portugal. This is really a very important game, in my opinion, as these two sides realistically should be competing for second place in the group. Ivory Coast were excellent in the qualifiers whereas Portugal yet again stumbled their way to an international tournament by the skin of their teeth.
Ivory Coast are incredibly well-placed to make the second round of this competition due to the quality of their team in all areas. Most African sides have the tenacity and stamina etc. but Ivory Coast fuse that with ability, which is a very dangerous combination indeed. The big question ahead of this game, however, is “Will Didier Drogba play?”. It really is an important factor here, not only because of his obvious quality as one of the best strikers in the world but also because Ivory Coast do tend to lack some real punch in attack without him. The pace of the Ivorians is going to push the Portuguese defence enough as it is – the possibility of Drogba being on the end of such tenacity is a terrifying thought for any side. Ivory Coast have done well in their friendlies of late too, beating Japan 2-0 and drawing 2-2 with Paraguay. This Ivory Coast side screams “goals” and in my opinion, they’re the only African side that does. This is Eriksson’s first competitive game in charge of Ivory Coast so it’ll be interesting to see if they gel with his tactics. If they Ivorians develop tactical awareness then they become an extremely strong side indeed. The Ivorians already boast the likes of Captain Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure, Romaric, Zokora, Aruna, Keita etc. who have bags of experience so they’re already well-placed to cause an upset here. African sides tend to be weakest at the back but the Ivorians have some capable defenders in the likes of Eboue and Toure so again, the Ivorians have some great strength and ability in their side and this is the perfect moment for them to showcase it.
Portugal have failed to convince me yet again of late. They’ve been shaky in their qualifiers for their last two international tournaments although credit given where it’s due – they still qualified for both tournaments. However, all luck must end sometime and much like fellow giants Italy – I feel their time has come this year. Portugal have been ineffective in front of goal of late and I genuinely feel that Ronaldo is carrying them more than ever despite an excellent midfield. Their finishers are decent at best and their defence is ageing and unreliable. A solid defence causes Portugal more problems than I care to mention and although the Ivorians are unlikely to be the most solid of defences because of their natural football flair, manager Eriksson will instill at least some level of consciousness in terms of attacking and defending as a unit and this could do so much damage to Portugal that it’s unreal. I don’t think I’m underestimating the potential of Portugal here – we all know how good they can be and they’re a dangerous side if they get a lead. However, they’re not scoring enough goals by any stretch of the imagination and they’re too wasteful in front of goal. Their ageing defence will be against a swift Ivorian atack and the constant hounding that I expect from the Africans will be most unwelcome in the Portuguese camp so I think they’ve got a real battle on their hands today.
“Portugal” midfielder Deco says he wants to face Drogba in this game. I think that he’s either very stupid or he’s a liar. No Portuguese player wants Drogba in this game because he’s a damn good player. The Portuguese have looked weak at the back in their friendlies of late and I expect the Ivorians to unsettle them even more today, particularly if Drogba plays. Either way, I feel the Ivorians will pose more of a threat than Portugal due to their overall quality unlike Portugal who simply boast an excellent midfield. This should be a very good game but I have to favour a talented Ivorian side to win this one with draw no bet odds of 5/4 today.
Verdict: Ivory Coast to win with draw no bet at 5/4.
Tuesday’s Picks
My tips:
As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:
New Zealand vs Slovakia – lay Slovakia at 8/5.
This is a very bold call but I think it has a decent chance of success and is worth a punt as a result of decent odds.
We’ve seen New Zealand frustrate Serbia and Australia of late and they were unfortunate to lose against Australia. They’re a very well-organised side because let’s face it – they have to be because they have little else to their squad. However, they work hard and they do offer some goal threat with the likes of Fallon and Smeltz able to put in a stint up front. Ryan Nelsen is quintessential in the New Zealand side if they’re to obtain anything from this game but the fact remains that they’re a tough side to beat, simply put. A lot of people think these guys will be cannon fodder in this group. I may be proven completely wrong, but I doubt that will be the case – I’d be surprised to see them concede more than twice in any game in this group, unless they start a game terribly. I fancy the New Zealanders to cause an upset or two by being hard to beat, to be blunt, and I think they’ve got a good chance of proving that today.
Slovakia are a side I rate an awful lot so I’m finding it quite hard to go against them with the quality of the likes of Hamsik, Skrtel, Vittek, and Sestak are good players and often show it for their country. However, I’ve observed something a lot of late when seeing Slovakia take on sides and that is that they rely upon Hamsik far too much to spark creativity in a relatively stale side. Youngster Weiss is their other big creator but his father tends to leave him on the bench, which certainly aids my bet. They’ve got pace but not many men that can beat a man, basically, but that’s what they’re going to have to do to break down solid banks of New Zealand fours and I just don’t see them having an easy ride whatsoever. I certainly don’t see why the bookies have priced them at 2/5. I’d hate to see Slovakia score an early goal because I’d lose faith in the call but this tournament so far has shown more slow starters than quick starters so I think we’ll see a mind-numblingly boring game as a result of these two cancelling each other out.
Basically, I’m expecting a similar game to that of the Algeria vs Slovenia game where the two sides frustrate each other due to a lack of creativity although hopefully this one will end with stalemate. Slovakia are without question the better side but they lack the overall creativity to do consistent damage to New Zealand, in my opinion. An early goal for Slovakia could puncture this bet horribly but frankly the odds are certainly more value-worthy to lay the Slovakians than to back them.
Verdict: Lay Slovakia at 8/5.
Brazil vs North Korea – both sides to score at 2/1.
I can’t believe the odds for this selection are so long! Brazil have played poor sides in their recent friendlies and have approached them in typical samba fashion, attacking fluently and defending badly. They’ve even managed to concede against Tanzania lately so don’t underestimate how badly Brazil can defend! Lucio must be wondering what the hell is going on sometimes – he’s won the Champions League with Internazionale by keeping out the likes of Barcelona and Chelsea and yet his international side can’t keep out Tanzania! Either way, Brazil just don’t defend well enough and in my opinion they’re facing a real unknown factor here. As I mentioned on my lengthy preview the other day, I can’t shed much light on the North Korea side, unfortunately. All I can base my opinions on is their displays and if they produce a display in this game akin to that which they showed against Greece of late then they’re more than capable of causing an upset by scoring. Their tenacity is unmatched in this tournament based on what I have seen of them and let’s face it – they’re an unknown opponent so Brazil actualy have a very dangerous game here that could backfire dreadfully if they don’t approach it properly. This is the biggest game for North Korea in about forty years and they’ll be more motivated than ever for this encounter so I firmly believe they’ll do enough to score against a frankly uninterested Brazilian defence although the Brazilians really should outscore them fairly easily today due to the massive quality difference.
Make no mistake here – I do expect Brazil to win this one but there’s little value in backing them at such short odds. Even taking them -2.75 at evens doesn’t appeal to me because I genuinely feel North Korea will score at least once in this game so I’m going for both sides to score today in what should be a fascinating game for various reasons.
Verdict: Both sides to score at 2/1.
Accumulator fodder:
Brazil, Sillamae Kalev, Levadia Tallinn, Kuban Krasnodor, Gombak United.
Recommended bets:
Kuban Krasnodor, Sillamae Kalev, and Brazil at 2/1.
As ever, if there any questions/explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the complete picks listing, see below!
World Cup:
New Zealand vs Slovakia (4) 0-0
Ivory Coast vs Portugal (6) 2-1, draw no bet
Brazil vs North Korea (8) over 2.5 goals
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Kuressaare vs Levadia Tallinn (8) 0-2
Sillamae Kalev vs Lootus (9) -1.75 handicap
Flora Paide vs Viljandi Tulevik (5) 1-1
Nomme Kalju vs Maag Tammeka Tartu (6) 2-1
Flora Tallinn vs Trans Narva (5) 1-1
Russian Division 1:
Energiya Khabarovsk vs FK Nizhnyi Novgorod (5) draw no bet
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok vs Mordovia Saransk (7)
Irtysh Omsk vs Baltika Kaliningrad (7)
Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast vs Dinamo St.Petersburg (7)
KamAZ Nab Chelny vs Dinamo Bryansk (6)
Avangard Kursk vs Volgar Gazprom Astrakhan (4)
Volga Nizhnyi Novgorod vs Shinnik Yaroslavl’ (6)
Salyut Belgorod vs Rotor Volgograd (6)
FK Khimki vs FK Krasnodor (5) under 2.5 goals
Kuban Krasnodor vs Zhemchuzhina Sochi (8)
Singaporean S-League:
Gombak United vs Beijing Guoan (8) 2-0
Swedish Superettan:
Trollhattan vs Falkenberg (5) draw no bet
Enjoy your free betting tips!