The final match of a super Saturday at the FIFA World Cup is one of the most important of the tournament so far as second favourites before a ball was kicked, Argentina, take on Mexico in a Group C clash which is huge.
Argentina were shocked by Saudi Arabia in their opening match and know if they are beaten here their campaign will be over before it has begun. Mexico picked up a draw in their opener and will be nicely placed if they avoid defeat here.
Where to watch
The match will follow the France vs Denmark game on ITV 1. The build-up to this huge encounter begins at 6.10pm with kick off coming along at 7pm.
Argentina
Clearly the result was anything but the one that Argentina would have wanted from their opening match but the fact that the other game in the group was a draw means they are still perfectly alive in the competition. All it has done is meant that they have used up their get out of jail free card and know that from here on in every performance needs to be immaculate and they have to be ruthless throughout each game, particularly in both boxes.
If you were to take the result away from that first match, other than perhaps not creating much deep into the second half, it wasn’t the worst performance from Argentina. They kept Saudi Arabia to few chances and should have had a lot more than the one goal they managed. The key thing for them is not to panic, win this game and then they will be back in control of their own destiny and might even go into their last game knowing a win sees them top the group.
Mexico
While Mexico would have been pleased not to be beaten in their opening match, especially when someone of the class of Robert Lewandowski stood over a penalty, they might have that for all the possession they had and chances that they created that they couldn’t find the goal which would have had them looking pretty in this section. That lack of a goal has been an issue for Mexico for far too long and doesn’t look to have been rectified.
The first thing Mexico will need to do if they are to come out on top in this match is to win the possession battle. That is something they are actually adept in doing against Argentina having done it in three friendly matches between the two over the last four years. They then need to find that ruthless edge in front of goal because I’ve not seen a Tata Martino team park the bus yet and I don’t expect that to change here even allowing for the fact that a draw would be a great result for ‘El Tri’.
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Team News
Argentina talisman Lionel Messi has been declared fit for this match but Lionel Scaloni has assured everyone he will not change his system despite losing the opening game. He has hinted at a couple of changes to his side though.
Mexico strike Raul Jimenez came off of the bench in the opening draw with Poland but as the class act in the central attacking positions Tata Martino could give the Wolves striker a much more prominent rule in this one.
Betting
I think this will be a much better matchup for Argentina than maybe even the Saudi Arabia game was. I say that because an awful lot of their wins under Lionel Scaloni have come when they have had less possession than their opposition. Only one of their wins in the Copa America last season saw them have more of the ball and that was against a poor Bolivia side, and already here they have lost with more of the ball.
Mexico are likely to dominate possession, although they’ll only be allowed it in the areas that don’t suit Argentina but if the South American side are going to win they’ll need to have more of a clinical edge than they showed in that opening game. The fact that Argentina have to win but don’t need to run the score up puts me off getting involved in the match lines but if they do win I fancy Lautaro Martinez might have found the net. He bagged a hat trick when these two sides last met and looked as lively as anyone for Argentina in their opening game. We know he is a brilliant finisher and it might well be that the best way in is to thread balls between the centre-backs so Martinez should get a few looks at goal and looks overpriced to take one.
Tips
Back L.Martinez to score anytime for a 2/10 stake at 3.10 with William Hill
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