GOONERSGUIDE WORLD CUP NEWS SECTION

This is our World Cup news section where we provide any news items that might have a significant effect on the matches being played - or sports betting in general.

World Cup News :: Group E Preview : Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Costa Rica

---

Posted on 2018-06-06 by Niko

---

World Cup 2018 : Group E Betting Preview

This is a group where Brazil are certain winners and the remaining three nations of Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia will all battle for the second spot and further progress.

Brazil

Brazil are labeled as top contenders for winning the World Cup, and they should not have any problems winning this group. However, sometimes big nations tend to underperform when they are labeled as strongest favorites to become World Champions. Brazil were also labeled as #1 favorites four years ago at home and yet they failed to deliver what was expected from them. The 7-1 humiliation from Germany in the knockout stage is still fresh and painful memory, so now they have a score to settle.

Brazil have some great individuals for this World Cup and even their bench looks very strong. Three wins is what I expect from them in this group, although their first game against Switzerland will not be as easy as expected.

Brazil won their friendly games against Russia and Germany at the end of March and against Croatia at beginning of June without even conceding, so they are going at this World Cup in very positive mood.

Switzerland

Switzerland had a fantastic qualifying campaign for this World Cup, recording nine wins in a row before losing their final group match against the European champions Portugal. They had to play playoff games against Northern Ireland and controversially won by scoring one penalty goal in the two games against them.

Anyhow, Switzerland have a pretty good squad of players that play together for several years now. Unfortunately for them, their first game will be against Brazil. A defeat there will lower down their chances for progression, because Serbia also have a strong team and Costa Rica are unpredictable and play without any pressure.

The Swiss have a few standard players that play at highest level in the Bundesliga, but it will be interesting to see whether they all have fully recovered and refreshed for this World Cup.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica are arguably the weakest side of all in this group, but we should not forget that they reached the Quarterfinals at the previous World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

Regarding their qualifying campaign, Costa Rica finished as second in the CONCACAF zone and one of their best performances was beating USA with 4-0. They should not be taken lightly and have potential to surprise.

However, I believe they will finish at the bottom of this group, unless they manage to get something out of their first game against Serbia. Many of their players from the last World Cup are not in the same form, so maybe a point or two is maximum they can get from this group.

Serbia

Not many people believe that Serbia will manage to progress from this group, but actually Serbia have a top team capable of reaching the knockout stages. Their team is full of great individuals and there is a great team spirit. There are no star players in the squad, which is a good thing, unlike in the past times when certain players grouped around some star players.

For the first time in many years the domestic public does not put big pressure on Serbia to deliver huge results at this tournament, which obviously positively affects their players. Branislav Ivanovic and team captain Aleksandar Kolarov form a very strong partnership in the back line, while the midfield with the creative playmaker Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and attack with the in-form Aleksandar Mitrovic look pretty good as well.

The first game against Costa Rica is crucial for Serbia and if they win there they will almost certainly join Brazil in the next stage of the competition.

The Betting Summary

Brazil winning the group E is a no-brainer, while Switzerland and Serbia are the main candidates for the second spot. Serbia have a younger and more talented squad than Switzerland at the moment, so I believe they will manage to defeat them and enter the next stage.

The Betting Verdict

Take Group E Forecast – Brazil & Serbia to finish first and second at odds of 2.62 with Bet365

 

Sourced From : Gooners Guide to World Cup Betting

PREVIOUS NEWS ITEM :
BetFred : Bet £10 on the World Cup and Get up to £70 in Free Bets