Brazil v Croatia World Cup 2014, 12th June Betting Preview
So here it is, the big kick off on Thursday. Host nation Brazil will set the country in Samba mood as they kick off as strong favourites against Croatia. Will the Selecao get themselves off to a convincing winning start, or will the Europeans stifle them?
Brazil v Croatia Betting Odds
Brazil 3/10, Draw 4/1, Croatia 10/1
Online bookmaker Promotion
Bwin are running a big promotion for the opening fixture of the tournament. Place a bet on Brazil in this game, and if they fail to win, then Bwin will give you your money back as a free bet, up to the maximum value of £40. You can also get double or triple money on the First Goalscorer market with Bwin as well, if your successful first goalscorer option goes on to score a second or a third in the game!
Brazil v Croatia Betting Tips:
After getting booed by their own fans in a very lack lustre final warmup match against Serbia, a game which the Selecao won 1-0, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men will be expected to make amends and open with a bang here. They have lost just the one match since March of 2013 and that came in August of last year when they went down 1-0 in Basel against Switzerland. Since that defeat though, they have won nine matches on the bounce, and have kept clean sheets in seven of them. So they aren’t just all about attack, there is a very organised, pragmatic feel about them. But they haven’t really gone up against stiff opposition at all, wins over Portugal, Chile and Serbia being their sternest tests.
Their golden boy Neymar, who has a fantastic strike rate for his country, is carrying the weight of the country on his shoulders. The Barcelona man is trading as 8/11 favourite at Bwin in the anytime goalscorer market, but there is a lot of value in Fred at even money, because in his support role alongside Neymar, he rarely lets his side down and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. With a great engine in the midfield, which is full of running from Willian and Ramires, to the touches of flair from Oscar, Brazil are big favourites to put three points on the board on opening night. The atmosphere in Sao Paulo should help them along nicely and they are 4/5 shots to win to nil.
Croatia should give Brazil their toughest match in Group A of the World Cup 2014. They have been warming up fairly decent, in somewhat of an understated manner. They are unbeaten in their last five matches, their toughest game in that sequence producing a 2-2 draw against Switzerland. There were narrow wins over Mali and Australia, both victories by a single goal margin, directly ahead of the World Cup. So they will be hoping to keep this one as tight as possible and look for the quality of Mario Mandzukic up top to snatch something. The best chance of anything from this is keeping things tight and it could push the game under 2.5 goals. The longer the game stays at 0-0, the happier Croatia will be, as they don’t have the firepower to really challenge. There are winnable games in the group for the Europeans, just not this one.
Brazil v Croatia Head To Head
There has been just the two previous meetings between the two nations, with Brazil holding a 1-0 head to head lead. That came in their most recent meeting, which was in the group stage of the 2006 World Cup, Brazil winning 1-0.
Brazil v Croatia Predictions
Jump on Brazil outright with the Bwin promo. They are heavy favourites, yes, but the promotion ads big risk-free value to kick off the World Cup with some profit. Croatia probably just won’t have the ability to shut up shot for 90 minutes and Brazil will be desperate to put on a show. There is a decent shot at winning to nil for them too.
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Form (all competitions)
Brazil WWWWWW, Croatia LDWDWW
