Brazil take on Switzerland at the Rostov Arena on Sunday 17th June at 19:00 local time in a game that should see Brazil pick up their 71st victory in a World Cup finals.
The Brazil versus Switzerland game should be an exciting one to watch because of the teams’ contrasting style. Brazil love to play attacking soccer, while Switzerland are happy to hog the possession and hope to sneak a goal on the break or from a set piece. Brazil, should on paper at least, walk away with this game comfortably due to their immense firepower.
This is probably why Bovada price Brazil with a -1.5 spread at +110 with Switzerland with a -1.5 spread at -130. However, Switzerland could frustrate the Brazilians and limit their goal scoring chances. There is not much value in backing Brazil at -300, we’d prefer to bet on scorelines. 1-0 Brazil is +450 with Bovada, with 2-0 at +500. 2-1 and 3-0 are the same +700. I’d probably opt for 2-0 in the first instance, but if Brazil bag an early goal the floodgates could open.
Brazil vs Switzerland Key Bites
Take into consideration that Brazil has only lost 17 from 104 games and have averaged 2.125 goals scored and conceded just under 1 goals per game and you should expect goals when Brazil are in town.
Switzerland reached the 2018 World Cup on merit and could easily have qualified automatically had they not lost to Portugal in the final match. Expect the Swiss to put up a resilient fight, but it will be a fight they ultimately lose.
Brazil are looking for their sixth World Cup title and are the bookmakers’ favorites to achieve this goal. The Samba outfit are scintillating in attack and now have a rock solid defense, which is a combination that wins teams trophies.
The Brazilians come into this tournament on the back on only one defeat in 21 games and that was a narrow 1-0 loss to Argentina. They enjoyed an almost perfect warm-up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia with five wins and one draw from six games, during which time they scored 12 goals and conceded only one.
Five consecutive shutouts, including against opposition such as Germany and England, show how much work Tite has done to his defense. With Miranda and Thiago Silva in central defense assisted by Casemiro in a holding midfield role, Brazil have strength, pace and athleticism at the back.
There is no side in world football that attacks better than the Brazilians and that is a strong statement. With Marcelo and Dani Alves bombing down the flanks from the full back positions and then the likes of Coutinho, Firmino, Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and even Paulinho who scored seven goals in 16 games, the team will never have trouble scoring.
Switzerland, however, will be no pushovers and booked their place in Russia on merit. The Swiss are on the back of an unbeaten run stretching an incredible 23 games and while they do not score a lot of goals, they seem to always find a way to prevent the opposition from getting on the score sheet.
The Swiss are a physical team and it remains to be seen how the Brazilians will cope with the physical battle. Granit Xhaka and Denis Zakaria will be busy in central midfield and will be like a brick wall in front of the four-man defense.
There are some flair players in the Swiss camp, too, including Xherdan Shaquiri who suffered being relegated from the Premier League with Stoke City and will be in the shop window hoping to engineer a move to a bigger club this summer.
Up front, Switzerland rely on Haris Seferovic in the lone striker role, a position that has seen him score 11 goals in 49 matches for his national side. Seferovic was part of the Swiss U-17 team that eliminated Brazil from the 1009 U-17 World Cup and was that tournament’s top goalscorer.
Switzerland are likely to try and stick to their 4-2-3-1 formation and limit the number of chances that the Brazilians have at their goal. This may be a valid strategy but it is highly unlikely that they will be able to keep Brazil at bay for the full 90-minutes and soaking up pressure for a full game of football is asking for trouble.
Brazil are +550 to win this game 1-0 and the same price as 2-0. We prefer the latter as if Brazil get on the scoresheet early, they are likely to find the back of the net again at some point.
We also like the look of the +120 available on Brazil to win and both teams not to score. Switzerland are capable of scoring, yet they will likely be pinned back for the majority of the match so the Brazilian defenders should have a quiet game.
Category : Betting Picks
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