The World Cup moves into its second week and things are seriously hotting up with qualification and elimination looming for many of the teams. As usual we’ve got three accas for you, with odds ranging from the very short on our “Easy Winner” banker right up to the going-for-glory long shots for those looking to win big from a small stake.
Easy Winner – 7/4 (Bet365)
- Brazil to beat Mexico (1/3) – We’re playing it very safe for our Easy Winner this week and opening with the hosts looks decent value to us, even at short odds. Brazil’s firepower will be too much for the Mexicans and we wouldn’t be surprised to see Brazil repeat their 3-1 opening day victory.
- Italy to beat Costa Rica (4/7) – Costa Rica upset Uruguay and surprised fans and pundits alike but they won’t find things so easy against a rugged and determined Italy who know how to win games when it matters.
- Netherlands to beat Australia (2/7) – Netherlands blew Spain away and whilst we don’t see a repeat of the 5-1 scoreline here, an easy win for Robin van Persie and co seems highly likely.
Medium Risk – 9/1 (Bet365)
- Spain v Chile both to score (4/5) – Spain were well beaten by the Dutch and will look to bounce back in this one but they will not find things easy against a composed and classy Chilean side that likes to get forward and who scored three – but also conceded – against Australia. Backing both teams to score looks a steal here and gets our acca off to a nice easy start.
- England to beat Uruguay (7/5) – Uruguay looked very poor against Costa Rica whilst England showed some promising signs despite losing to Italy. This is a must-win game for Roy’s boys and we expect them to come good, irrespective of whether Luis Suarez is fit for the South Americans.
- Japan to beat Greece (27/20) – Japan are still in with a chance of qualification but they have to win here and we think they will do that just against a Greece outfit that lacks quality and ambition.
Long Shot – 87/1 (Bet365)
- Colombia v Ivory Coast: draw (12/5) – This pair are well matched and this game could decide who wins the group and thus, potentially, avoids Italy in the next round. It could go either way but on balance the draw looks a solid bet for our high risk, high reward acca.
- Daniel Sturridge to score first (11/2) – Sturridge looked sharp before tiring somewhat against Italy and his goal will have given him a real confidence boost and against a poor Uruguay we fancy the Liverpool man to open the scoring.
- Brazil to win by exactly two goals (3/1) – Brazil won their opener 3-1 against Croatia and whilst somewhat unconvincing they will have been pleased to get the result. Mexico also won their opening game and despite some nice passages of play we think Brazil will record a relatively comfortable success here, with a repeat of that 3-1 score a distinct possibility.