Once again we have three matches in the World Cup on Friday and the first of them gives us the second chance to watch Brazil in action in the tournament. They take on Costa Rica in a big Group E match for both sides.
Brazil were held in their opening match by Switzerland while Costa Rica suffered a potentially critical defeat to Serbia to get their tournament underway so both nations go in search of their first three points here.
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Brazil
I thought for the most part that Brazil looked quite good in their opening match against Switzerland. It wasn’t perhaps the silky skills and high tempo we would expect from a Brazilian team but Switzerland are not the easiest team to play against so we can cut them a little bit of slack in that regard but they don’t need to step up too much to be where we expect them to be.
The important thing was that they were comfortable at the back. The goal they conceded really should have been referred to the video assistant to disallow and in truth they were comfortable around that. There was clearly a bit of rust which they will have got out of their system so we should see a top level Brazil here.
Costa Rica
I was aware that Costa Rica were over the tip of their peak heading into the tournament but I thought they looked pretty poor against Serbia. They lacked flair that we saw plenty of from them four years ago and in truth their defensive solidity wasn’t really there either as Serbia could have had plenty more than the one goal they did get.
We need to see a lot more from Costa Rica in forward areas in this match because even with the state of the group the way it is they know if they are beaten in this encounter they will be leaving the tournament prematurely. That is not going to be easy and it will go against their cautious approach but they are in the position whereby they need to take a few risks.
Team News
Neymar has been passed fit for this contest so we can expect him to start. There was a doubt after he hobbled out of a training session but it appears as though that was a false alarm. That could mean Brazil are unchanged.
Costa Rica may decide to make changes in forward areas as they look to give themselves a few more options to try and get at the former champions. Christian Bolanos could be involved from the beginning to assist with that quest.
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Betting
I think Brazil will win the game but none of the markets around them offer much in the way of value it has to be said. They are no price to win to nil and there is an awful lot of push or narrow loss potential on the handicaps so in terms of a punt I’m going to head towards the player markets.
Having seen Costa Rica against England and Serbia I worry for their defence against genuine movement and with that in mind the even money on Gabriel Jesus to find the net at any time just looks a touch too big. Costa Rica struggled to live with the movements of the dynamic England players and Aleksandar Mitrovic had his moments against them. Jesus is probably a couple of levels above him and with the supply he should get I’ll take him to find the back of the net.
Tips
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