The second match of a wonderful Saturday at the World Cup in Russia sees the twice former champions Argentina taking on the smaller nation ever to qualify for the tournament in Iceland who make their debut in the opening match of Group D.
The feeling is that this will be quite an open group so getting off to a fast start could prove invaluable but all might not be lost should either of these teams fail to win this opening match. Being the first game in the group they do have the chance to lay a marker down.
Argentina
Much has been made of the way Argentina qualified for this tournament, and clearly the fact that they were a match away from not being here at all should send shock waves through everyone, but they have the chance to show that what has happened is gone and that they are here to win the tournament over the next month.
Naturally all eyes will be on Lionel Messi to see what he has to offer the world stage once again but on paper at least, this is a very talented Argentina attacking core. I guess the big test for them will come in the defensive areas, perhaps not in this match but if they are to go all the way they will need to prove their worth at some stage.
Iceland
To the outside world you would probably think that Iceland have little to lose in this tournament. I still think that is true but we saw in 2016 that they are a fiercely proud bunch while in qualifying for this competition we also saw they might still be improving. This will be a brilliant test for them though and we will find everything we need to about them over the next few weeks.
Without meaning to belittle their achievement in Euro2016, they were outshot in almost every match that they played and there is a feeling that the extra teams creating a dilution of quality in that event assisted them. They have started to answer that notion by reaching this event and they can quash it completely by being competitive here.
Team News
Jorge Sampaoli has already announced his starting line-up for this match and Sergio Aguero will get the slot alongside Lionel Messi up the top end of the pitch. There are starts for Willy Caballero and Javier Mascherano too.
The big news for Iceland ahead of their opening match is that talisman Gylfi Sigurdsson returned from injury in a friendly last week which proved his fitness. He is expected to be rewarded with the start here.
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Betting
There is a case to be made for this being low scoring given that Argentina were among the lower scorers in World Cup qualifying but they had a decent defensive record but they would not have faced a side with a defence that leaks as much as this Iceland one does very often.
Iceland have conceded three goals in recent friendlies against Mexico, Peru and Norway and Ghana bagged twice against them as well so you’ve got to think Argentina will be able to expose them no matter how their attack has performed in the past. I’m sure the direct style of Iceland will make things uncomfortable at the back for Argentina which should add to the spectacle too. We’ve seen Cristiano Ronaldo make a huge impact on this tournament and now it is the turn of Messi to answer so I’m going to swim against the tide and take over 2.5 goals in this one.
Tips
Back Over 2.5 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with BetBright
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