The second match of the World Cup last 16 will be played on Saturday evening with two sides with good international pedigrees going at it when Uruguay take on Portugal. The winners will face either France or Argentina in the last eight.
Uruguay qualified for the knockout stages courtesy of three wins from three in their group, one of just three sides to achieve that feat, while the late penalty Portugal conceded to Iran meant they finished second in their group.
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Uruguay
I think most people were disappointed with the way Uruguay approached their first two matches in this tournament. They were slow, sluggish and lethargic and lacked anything in the middle of the park which could provide ammunition to their superstar front two. That all changed in their final group match against Russia when they clicked as a unit and that is the Uruguay we hope to see moving forward.
One area Uruguay have been very strong in has been their defence and they are the only side remaining in the tournament to yet to concede a goal and if they can stay tight and resolute at the back you would think with their strikers they have every chance of going deep in the tournament. There might be a question about their temperament though.
Portugal
The European champions are yet to be beaten in this tournament with a win and two draws in their group matches. They will have been mighty annoyed to only draw with Iran last time out with Iran getting a questionable penalty go their way late on after Cristiano Ronaldo had surprisingly missed from the spot himself earlier in the contest.
In a way Portugal have surprised us in this competition. Heading into it I think many expected them to be dour and defensive and look to eek their way through much like they did in the Euros two years ago but they have better attacking talent now and they have actually opened up and looked to get on the front foot before adopting a counter attacking approach once they’ve gone ahead.
Team News
Jose Gimenez is expected to return to the starting line up after injury denied him the opportunity to take his place against the hosts Russia on Monday afternoon. That could see Uruguay revert back to a back four.
Portugal full-back Raphael Guerrero is expected to be fit for this encounter but William Carvalho missed training on Thursday and could be forced to sit out as a result. Andre Silva will be hoping he did enough against Iran to keep his place.
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Betting
I think this is a really tough match to call for a couple of reasons really but certainly not least because both these sides have a safety first, cautious approach to their outlook and I would imagine they will retreat to kind in that regard for this match. I’m expecting a really tight, tense and nervy affair here and the longer the match goes without a goal the stronger I’ll be convinced one won’t come along.
This really doesn’t feel like a match to go big on so having had a couple of decent bets on the earlier game I’m just going to back both teams to win on penalties so if it goes to a shootout we’ll bang out a nice 9pt profit from the match to take into the rest of the weekend and if there is a winner before then we won’t have broken the bank we’ll built up in the tournament thus far.
Tips
Back Uruguay to win on penalties for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with William Hill
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Back Portugal to win on penalties for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with BetVictor
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