Quarter Finals Preview
By Footy Tipster
Covers.com
Brazil v Colombia
In the only all-South American clash of the quarter-finals, Colombia have shocked a few with their stellar performances despite missing their star player, Falcao. Staring in the face of adversity, the collective unit of Colombia has seen them stroll through numerous games with James Rodriguez playing the lead role.
Despite making it to this stage, Brazil are still yet to set the world alight with a strong performance that leads to a few thinking Colombia may progress. However, given the fact Brazil are at home it’s never easy to oppose Brazil, so I’ve found an alternative bet.
Throughout qualifying Colombia had the best defence in South America and they’ve taken it to the World Cup by netting 2/4 clean sheets. Therefore, the chances are this game will be fairly cagey thus starting off slow. Moreover, the majority of Colombia’s goals this tournament have come in the 2nd half, therefore I’m going for the 2nd half having the most goals.
Netherlands v Costa Rica
To no surprise whatsoever, Netherlands are expected to breeze past the World Cup’s surprise package. Costa Rica shocked everybody by topping the ‘Group of Death’, but have since gone on the stumble past Greece with 10 men in a rather fortunate fashion.
Louis van Gaal has been working wonders with Holland this tournament who’ve been playing fairly defensive football for the majority of the tournament to preserve energy for the later stages of the games, as epitomized in their victory in the Round of 16.
Netherlands-Costa Rica is being played in Salvador which has seen the highest number of goals at this World cup, it’s played host to: Spain 1-5 Netherlands, Bosnia 3-1 Iran, Switzerland 2-5 France, Germany 4-0 Portugal & Belgium 2-1 USA AET.
The heat and humidity is having a clear impact in Salvador. This one could have plenty of Goals
France v Germany
Based on performances, France by large have been the best team at the World Cup so far.
As for Germany there’s still a lot to be desired. The 2-1 AET victory against Algeria was extremely underwhelming and nothing ever really looked like happening until Khedira and Schurrle were introduced. The speed at which Germany play is largely influenced by who starts in central midfield between Khedira and Schweinsteiger, where the latter is a lot more conserving than the former.
If Schweinsteiger starts then under 2.5 goals could be a play in this game, if its Khedira then I’d recommend avoiding it. However, it’s worth having a small play on France who are great value to progress in our opinion.
Argentina v Belgium
Argentina v Belgium is a tough match to call for a number of reasons; Argentina have struggled against sides who prove defensively capable, Belgium are solid defensively and the Red Devils haven’t been convincing going forward.
It’s expected Argentina will go through in this game, but there’s every chance this game could go to extra time if Belgium chose to sit back and counter attack, which has proved to be the Achilles heel of Argentina this tournament.
I think the best bet for this game will be under 2.5 goals with Belgium lacking potency and possessing defensive solidarity which will be tough the break down.