We continue with the second set of matches at the FIFA Club World Cup on Friday with another four games as we take in the middle fixtures in both Group C and Group D as the tournament begins to get very interesting.
With the groups we have in action it means that we get to see a couple of the better teams in Europe as well as two of the better runners from South America all looking to either qualify or put themselves in a position to do that.
Friday’s fixtures are as follows: (UK kick off in brackets; DAZN unless stated)
Benfica vs Auckland City (17.00)
Flamengo vs Chelsea (19.00)
Los Angeles FC vs Esperance de Tunis (23.00)
Bayern Munich vs Boca Juniors (02.00 – Channel 5)
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Preview
We begin the action in Group C where the part-timers of Auckland City will be hoping that they have a much better time of it than they did in their opening game when they go up against the Portuguese side Benfica. After coming from 2-0 down in their first match, Benfica will be looking to do a job on the Kiwis and set themselves up ahead of a clash with Bayern in their final game. Chelsea are back in action in the second match of the day when they head to Philadelphia to take on the Brazilian outfit Flamengo. Both teams won their first match so the winners of that contest will book their spot in the last 16 with a match to spare.
Two sides who will be looking to open up a shot at reaching the knockout stages meet in the third match of the day in Nashville as the home side Los Angeles FC go up against Esperance de Tunis. Both teams lost their first game of the tournament and will be eliminated if they lose here. A decent day of football concludes in Miami where Bayern Munich will look to seal their spot in the knockout stages when they take on a fiery Boca Juniors match in what could be a great game to watch.
Betting
I’m a little bit surprised that we can get odds against on Los Angeles FC to beat Esperence de Tunis in the third match of the day. There wasn’t much to like about the performance of the Africans in their opening game whereas LAFC caused Chelsea a few problems at time but lacked the poise of the final pass to get into truly great positions. That was a game against a powerful side though and caution in the first game was understandable but I expect the handbrake to come off and for the America side to show their class. Esperence will have to come out a little more here as their tournament life could be on the line but there is every chance that only plays into the hands of Los Angeles, who man-for-man and squad depth wise look the better team here. I’ll play the odds against on a Los Angeles win.
Moving into the late match and I expect Bayern Munich to do a bit of a job on Boca Juniors and over 2.5 goals for Bayern appeals. Benfica scored twice against Boca in the opening game and there is little argument to be made that the Germans aren’t more dangerous than the Portuguese outfit. Benfica had an xG of 1.76 against Boca and with Bayern more dangerous than that I see no reason why the Germans can’t put three past the Argentines. I also think the odds against on Boca to have more than 2.5 cards appeals too. Somehow, Boca only had two yellow cards in the first game when they completely lost their heads against Benfica but in a match where they are likely to be chasing shadows for large parts it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise were the South Americans to lose their heads again. We have an Iranian-Australian ref who booked five players in the opening match of the tournament and three more Argentine players could easily annoy him enough to find their way into the book too.
Tips
Back Los Angeles FC to beat Esperence de Tunis for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back Bayern Munich – Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Sky Bet
Back Boca Juniors – Over 2.5 cards for a 3/10 stake at 2.15 with Paddy Power
