The penultimate match of a magic Monday at the FIFA World Cup sees the tournament favourites Brazil back in action when they look to become just the second team to win both of their opening matches when they take on Switzerland.
Switzerland themselves are looking for a second win from two outings and both teams head into the match knowing that whoever does win the game will be through to the knockout stages with a match to spare, which is a decent incentive.
Where to watch
This match will be shown live and in full on the ITV 1 channel in the UK. There is a comprehensive build-up which begins at 3pm and then kick off comes along at 4pm.
Brazil
There were not many teams who were able to put a marker down in the opening round of matches but Brazil were one who did. They saw off a very competent Serbia side with the minimum of fuss and if they follow the pattern that most teams try to in that they build and improve with each game that comes along, they are entitled to feel very good about their chances of going all the way in this competition and win this trophy for the first time in 20 years.
If you wanted to be critical of Brazil in that win over Serbia it would be that they let a few chances go beginning but they restricted the European outfit to absolutely nothing in front of goal and the longer the game went on the more it looked like Brazil would win the game and then extend their lead when they went ahead. They have a question to answer about their form without Neymar in this match but that is all that might work against them.
Switzerland
Switzerland were also winners in their opening match against Cameroon. They also created a whole bunch of chances, many of which went begging, but the most important thing was that they did take one of their shots at goal to win that match. They now have a bit of a free hit in this match because whatever happens here they are likely to qualify with a draw in their final game with Serbia. They have the chance to wrap up their progression here and now though if they are brave enough.
The concern for Switzerland both in this match and the one which will follow it is that they conceded an xG total of 0.91 against Cameroon so they do give up chances and you would imagine if they do that against this Brazil outfit they are likely to be punished so it will be interesting to see if they utilise another sitter in the middle of the park to try and protect a defence which hasn’t been watertight for a while really.
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Team News
Brazil are going to be without Neymar and Danilo for this match after they both picked up injuries in the win over Serbia. Tite has kept his cards close to his chest over who will replace Neymar but he has plenty of options. Eder Militao is favourite to come in for Danilo.
Switzerland have no reason to make any changes to their side but if they do want another player to sit in the middle of the park then they could bring Chelsea midfielder Denis Zakaria in for one of the attack minded players.
Betting
I’m a little reluctant to get too involved in this match because I’m always a little wary about the form of Brazil whenever Neymar isn’t in their team sheet. If we go back to 2014 they collapsed in a heap without him and they weren’t much more impressive four years ago in his absence either. This squad has more of an attacking edge to it though so while I think they’ll be ok I would rather look and see before I get too involved. I’ll take a small bet builder for this match.
That has two legs and they are the same two legs that I took in the Croatia vs Canada match – Switzerland over 1.5 cards and Brazil over 14.5 shots. These two met in this tournament in 2018 when both of these legs landed and Switzerland received two yellow cards in a match where they weren’t really under pressure against Cameroon earlier in the tournament. A poor Cameroon side had seven shots in that game despite only really offering anything in the opening 45 minutes. Brazil registered 24 shots against Serbia and even if they are a little more conservative without Neymar, I expect them to dominate the ball. Brazil have pace throughout the pitch so Switzerland could mistime a few tackles which can lead to cards and I expect Brazil to keep going forward. I fancy this bet builder double to land.
Tips
Back Switzerland – Over 1.5 cards + Brazil – Over 14.5 shots (bet builder) for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Bet365
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