The final game in the second round of group matches at the FIFA World Cup sees two of the perceived dark horses for the tournament going at it when Portugal take on Uruguay in a key Group H contest.
These two teams got off to an unbeaten start in the competition with Portugal beating Ghana and Uruguay getting a point against South Korea and whoever wins here will be nicely placed not just to qualify but to win the group and potentially avoid Brazil in the round of 16 in the process.
Where to watch
This final match of the day will be shown live and in full on the ITV 1 channel in the UK with the build-up beginning at 6.10pm and the kick off at 7pm.
Portugal
When you have someone like Cristiano Ronaldo in your team you are always going to go into a tournament as dark horses at the very worst and that was a position Portugal certainly entered the competition in. There were positives in their opening win over Ghana but you would have to appreciate there were negatives too. Neutrals who watch Portugal will be used to being frustrated with the lack of tempo to their play given the insane talent that is available to them and that was a feature of the largely laboured win over Ghana.
Another negative has to be a defence which looked like it was going to concede whenever Ghana looked at it let alone attacked it and the keeper almost had the wind put up him late on too. The positive was that when Portugal did push the go button they also looked like they had plenty of goals in them but having won their opening game you wonder just how adventurous they will be in what they might see as the toughest assignment in the group.
Uruguay
While the Uruguay performance in the opening match wasn’t the worst we’ve seen at this tournament, you’d be hard pushed to say it was among the best. The one thing you would say about them is that at least they kept going forward and looking to win the match as opposed to some teams, such as their opponents South Korea, who were clearly happy to take a draw and get themselves into the event without losing.
The one thing you would say about Uruguay was there was a disappointing lack of real top drawer creativity in their performance. Their midfielders are largely of a solid, central type and the wider players just couldn’t really get into the game. It will be interesting to see if they can find a little more craft to open up some chances for their attackers. The positive was that they looked solid enough defensively, although you would have to say they were put under no pressure at all.
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Team News
Portugal are going to be without midfielder Danilo Fereira for this match as he mysteriously fractured his ribs in training during the week. Fernando Santos must decide whether to start with Rafael Leao who scored from the bench against Ghana.
Uruguay are still expected to be without their centre-back Ronald Araujo for whom the match comes a little too soon for. There is talk that Uruguay will replace Luis Suarez with Edinson Cavani in the forward areas.
Betting
If you look at the odds for this match you would think there is a gulf of difference between the two sides but I’m not sure the chasm between them is that wide. I actually think they are closely matched, or at least much closer than the bookmakers would have us believe. I also think both of these teams might respect the other and cancel each other out, particularly with the likelihood that a draw probably serves the purpose for both sides.
That all makes me think that Uruguay on the double chance or +0.5 Asian lines is the right play here. If you look at the spine of the Uruguay side they have two very good and experienced centre-backs, two very solid midfielders and a pair of strikers who can deliver the goods too. To be fair, Portugal can have the same said about them but I always worry about the Portugal tempo and if Rafael Leao doesn’t start then I’ll be even more confident but whoever plays here I fancy the South American side can keep it tight enough to avoid defeat against a team who might be happy to draw.
Tips
Back Uruguay (+0.5AH) to beat Portugal for a 3/10 stake at 1.88 with Bet365
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