Argentina v Switzerland World Cup 2014, 1st July Betting Preview
A great looking game on the cards here and it could be a high scoring affair as well. Switzerland have both shipped and scored goals so far, while Argentina are finally getting the very best out of Lionel Messi on the World Cup stage. The winner of this will go ahead to face either Belgium or the USA in the quarter finals.
Argentina v Switzerland Betting Tips
This is the seventh meeting between Argentina and Switzerland and so far, the Albiceleste have gone unbeaten, winning four and drawing two. Their only encounter at the World Cup was a meeting in 1996, which produced a 2-0 win for the South Americans. Lionel Messi is showing his magic at the tournament so far, having netted four goals in three appearances, and the Barcelona man is up as 8/11 favourite in the anytime goalscorer market. He has scored some special ones so far.
Argentina have won on each of their last three appearances at this stage of the World Cup and have lost just one of their last six second round appearances in total. Argentina haven’t looked all that fluent and strong so far at the World Cup, with Messi pretty much carrying them though. They are a strong side and should get better, but they have only won three of their last ten World Cup matches against European nations (D4 L3). Would expect them to get on the scoresheet and not unreasonable to look at Both Teams To Score. Argentina have earned the most average possession of all teams in the World Cup so far this year.
Switzerland have lost both of their two previous appearances in the second round of the World Cup, so they are looking to make a big stride forward here. They played some great football in their group, opening with a dramatic win over Ecuador, then losing heavily against France, before Xherdan Shaqiri popped up with a hat trick to thump Honduras. Shaqiri is 4/1 in the anytime goalscorer market. Switzerland have kept seven clean sheets in their last ten World Cup matches, but only one so far in 2014, which is indicative of them playing a much more open style of football.
Switzerland have struggled against South American sides at the World Cup before, winning just one of their previous six encounters (W1 D1 L4). That victory however was against Ecuador in the group stage. Punters concerned about their 5-2 loss against France shouldn’t be overly troubled, because that was an anomalous blip. Switzerland have lost just two of their last 21 matches played now.
Argentina v Switzerland Betting Odds
Argentina 1/2, Draw 3/1, Switzerland 6/1
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Argentina v Switzerland Predictions
Tougher match to call than expected because Argentina are not playing particularly well at the moment. But they have Lionel Messi and they have the promise of getting better. Switzerland are a good, bold, energetic and open side. They may likely just come up short though in this one and would back Argentina to land the win.
