The second match of the 2017 Confederations Cup is one of the highlights of the first round as the European champions Portugal take on the North American champions Mexico in a huge Group A match in Kazan.
These two sides have already seen Russia win in their group so they will both be eager to get off to a winning start but this might be seen as a must not lose game for them both.
Portugal
The Euro 2016 winners warmed up for this tournament with a comfortable win in Latvia in a World Cup qualifier last week. In many ways that was a good preparation in that it won’t have taken anything out of them but in order to hit the ground running in this tournament they might have wanted a sterner test.
You can tell by the quality of the squad they have picked that this is a big event for Portugal. They are looking to get that winning philosophy and habit that Spain had a decade or so ago and with that in mind winning this tournament would be beneficial especially with the World Cup just 12 months away.
Mexico
It is in these tournaments that we really get to judge Mexico. In fairness we can sometimes judge them when they compete in the Copa America but they don’t always take a full side to that tournament so even then it is only a slight judgement that we can make. One thing we do know is they are hard to beat.
Mexico have only lost two of their last 24 matches under Osorio although one of them was a heavy beating in the Copa America Centenario quarter final against Chile. They go into this match off the back of a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw with the USA and the intensity of that match should serve them well here.
Team News
Portugal will be without one of the stars of Euro 2016 in Renato Sanches who was sent to the Under-21 tournament. Joao Mario picked up an injury recently and is unavailable for the match too.
Mexico are expected to save captain Rafael Marquez and use him from the bench if they need him. Jesus Corona was a late withdrawal from the squad for the tournament.
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Betting
This has been hyped up as one of the matches of the first stage of the competition but I wonder if it will live up to that. I hope it does and both sides certainly have the attacking personnel to make it do so but both have pretty robust defences too and when push comes to shove it is them I can see coming out on top.
First matches of any tournament are generally tight affairs and this does look a tight match especially if Mexico can take Ronaldo out of the equation. In truth I don’t want to go too mad at a match which looks as tight as this one does but I can’t resist a cheeky punt on the no goalscorer just in case both sides take a while to find their feet. A draw isn’t a bad result for either so they might protect what they have the longer it goes on rather than push for a winner.
Tips
Back No Goalscorer for a 1/10 stake at 8.50 with Betbright
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