Switzerland vs Costa Rica Odds

Switzerland vs Costa Rica World Cup Odds

Wednesday 27th June at 21:00 local time is when Switzerland take on Costa Rica in their final 2018 World Cup Group E match at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.

Switzerland vs Costa Rica Prediction

Switzerland may not have an out and out striker of any quality but they are a solid team who work extremely hard for each other. They have a sprinkling of players who are genuine quality, such as Xherdan Shaqiri who has the ability to both impress and frustrate in equal measure.

The resilient Swiss have a never give up attitude and that may bode them well because Costa Rica managed to hold out for 91 minutes against Brazil before conceding two goals in injury time to end their World Cup dreams. 

Costa Rica look like a team that has completely given up. They may have been the 2014 World Cup’s quarter-finalists but this team is a shadow of that one. A lack of pace throughout the side plus a distinct lack of creativity has seen the South American lose eight of their last 10 games and those victories were 1-0 affairs against Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Switzerland vs Costa Rica Key Bites

• Xherdan Shaqiri has been involved in five Swiss goals in his last five games, scoring four and assisting one
• Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka and Stephan Lichtsteiner are lucky to be playing after making political gestures at Serbian fans during their 2-1 victory. The trio were fined instead of banned.
• Switzerland have not kept a clean sheet for three games. They kept seven in the nine games prior to this run
• Switzerland’s last two games against South American opposition were a 1-1 draw with Brazil and a 6-0 demolition of Panama
• It will be the third time in four consecutive World Cups that Switzerland progress to the Round of 16 if they secure at least a point against Costa Rica

Switzerland vs Costa Rica Betting Trends

Switzerland vs Costa Rica World Cup Preview

When you watch Switzerland in action it is easy it is easy to see why they have only lost one of their previous 24 fixtures. The whole team works as a unit, like a well oiled machine that may not have the best individuals in it, but a team that is close nit and prepared to run their hearts out for their fellow countrymen.

The Swiss may not have carved out many chances in their 1-1 draw with favorites Brazil, but they managed to find a way back into the game once they had gone behind. Brazil may have attempted 21 shots at goal, but many were from longer range as they grew frustrated with the way Switzerland were keeping them at bay.

Switzerland will not argue that they were second best for much of the first half against Serbia; they even conceded uncharacteristically after only five minutes. They changed things around in the second half and you could say they deserved to win. Granit Xhaka scored a peach of a goal and Xherdan Shaqiri put away a wonderful individual goal.

The Costa Ricans have been bitterly disappointing at this World Cup, everyone expected much more from the side that reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup. Two straight defeats and only a handful of shots spread across those games show how far this team has fallen.

Losing can become an unwanted habit in football and it is difficult to pull yourself out of a rut, which Costa Rica are certainly in. Eight defeats in 10 games is awful form and this will almost certainly be nine defeats in 11 games once the 90 minutes with Switzerland is over.

It is not often that Switzerland are short priced favorites at a major tournament, but Bovada price them at -145 to walk away with three points and therefore cement their place in the Round of 16. 

A 1-0 Switzerland victory is the way to go, Bovada will give you odds of +500 on that score happening.

Category : Betting Picks

Tag : FIFA World Cup , Soccer