Switzerland v Costa Rica

Costa Rica are already out, so may come into this seeing an opportunity to give a few of their squad members a run out. For Switzerland they have nothing to gain but everything to lose, given they currently occupy 2nd spot in the table. A win secures their progress of course, as would a draw, while defeat would leave them needing a favour from Brazil to assure them a place in the next round.

Costa Rica certainly aren’t the strongest side in the tournament, and while they gave Brazil a heck of a fright, things could be very different in this one now that they know they are leaving on the first plane out. The ultra-disciplined 5-4-1 “World Cup Underdog Game Play” we’ve seen so often is likely to be cast aside for a more adventurous plan.

The Swiss are 8/11 with a couple of firms to win this one, and that feels big on balance. Although Brazil left it late to beat Costa Rica, in truth they dominated the match – 20 shots on goal (10 on target), 9-1 on the corners count, and 69% possession. It was a bit of a rout really. They did a better job against Serbia in the opening match of course, but as mentioned, this could be a different type of match. With the Central Americans coming into this with eight defeats from their last ten matches and just two wins from 12, they look there for the taking. Back the Swiss at 8/11 is the advice.

We’ve continued to see penalty after penalty – two more on Tuesday night for instance, and Paddy Power are still 21/10 in this one. No more detail required I assume on this one!

Finally, we’ve written a fair bit about how the trends in the FIFA MOTM have gone, with goal scorers and familiar faces dominating the winners throughout. That makes Xherdan Shaqiri a decent bet for Man of the Match in this one at 3/1 in the absence of many other well-known faces. You could argue his biggest threat might come from Keylor Navas, and only one keeper has won a MOTM so far this tournament.

2.2pts Switzerland to beat Costa Rica at 8/11 (Betway)

1pt Penalty Awarded at 21/10 (PP)

1pt Xherdan Shaqiri MOTM at 3/1 (Boyles)

#Football