Italy v Costa Rica World Cup 2014, 20th June Betting Preview
Well it is back to Group D action here, and these two will have the advantage of knowing what happened between England and Uruguay the day before. If those two drew, then the winner of this game will be guaranteed a place in the knockout stages of the World Cup. Can Costa Rica build upon their surprise win over Uruguay, or will the efficient Italians push on?
Italy v Costa Rica Betting Tips
This is the first time that the two will have met at a World Cup, although they have faced off once before in a friendly. Italy won that match 1-0 back in 1994 ahead of the World Cup in the USA. So both of them head into this second match with three points already in the bag and despite Costa Rica’s shock 3-1 win over Uruguay, they are running as heavy underdogs still against Italy. The Italians, who took down England of course, are 1/2 favourites to pick up the three points and push on towards winning the group. They were favourites to do so pre-tournament.
In their 2-1 win over England, Italy’s pass completion rate of 93% was the highest ever recorded in a World Cup game. Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi were most of the reason why, although a lot of Pirlo’s passes were back in his own half. Still, they pretty much dominated the entire midfield battle, and it was effective because they visibly worn out England, who tired badly in the last twenty minutes of the match.
While the Italians are favourites to bank the win in this one, they have won any of their last three second-games at a World Cup (D2 L1). Still, with the quality that they have, you would expect them to break open Costa Rica at some point and Italy have scored in each of their last 15 World Cup matches, which is the best streak of any side. Top options in the anytime goalscorer market are Mario Balotelli and Ciro Immobile, both of whom are trading at even money to find the back of the net. You imagine that they will get chances as Costa Rica haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last six matches.
No other sides from the CONCACAF zone, apart from Mexico and the USA have ever won consecutive matches at the World Cup, but Costa Rica are now in line to do so. They are highly inconsistent through, losing against Australia and Japan in their warm up matches, and they have posted a W2 D2 L2 record over their last six matches. So how they rolled out to beat Uruguay 3-1 from a position as massive underdogs, shows the weight of their achievement. There is the potential of goals in this one, as Costa Rica have scored in each of their six previous matches at the World Cup against a European side.
Looking at the fixture lists ahead of this one, there probably would not have been a hint of an upset in this one. But the fact that Italy are out at 6/4 to win to nil, suggests that there is a threat from Costa Rica, and Italy may have to be wary, because Costa Rica just threw the kitchen sink at Uruguay.
Italy v Costa Rica Betting Odds
Italy 8/15, Draw 3/1, Costa Rica 5/1
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Italy v Costa Rica Predictions
This could be a fascinating, entertaining game, as most matches at the World Cup have been so far. Italy are the better team, no question about that, but can Costa Rica come up with something special again? Would look for goals in this one and Both Teams To Score looks decent value at even money, as does Italy to win by a one goal margin. Italy should come out on top.
