Colombia v Greece Predictions & Betting Odds – World Cup 2014

Colombia backed to edge Group C opener

Manager Jose Pekerman (Colombia)
Manager Jose Pekerman (Colombia) © GEPA pictures

Colombia v Greece World Cup 2014, 14th June Betting Preview
Group C doesn’t have the look of being the most exciting of groups at the World Cup 2014, but you never know. Colombia are holding favouritism to top the pile, while they take on Greece who are favourites to finish bottom. Will the South Americans be able to land an opening blow?

Colombia v Greece Betting Tips

Colombia will be without their star man, Radamel Falcao, who never recovered from his injury back in January. So they have to soldier on regardless, but they aren’t short in the attack department, as Jackson Martinez was in prolific form for FC Porto during the season and he along with the veteran Teofilo Gutierrez and battering ram Carlos Bacca, they have options up there. They’ll naturally miss the finesse and scoring record of Falcao, but they should be alright in this group.

Colombia’s qualifying campaign from the CONMEBOL zone was largely built on defence, but they scored regularly enough to finish second behind only Argentina, and just a couple of points back too. So that meant that they were riding very well in ante post World Cup outright betting, but have since seen their odds drift out quite a bit, as the loss of Falcao has meant that they are no longer seen as the major dark horse threat that they perhaps could have been at the tournament.

It is likely, given Colombia’s defence that they are going to be able to hold out for a clean sheet against Greece. There are good options in this match, as well as Colombia looking a decent bet in the match outright. You could back Colombia to win to nil at a price of 7/4, or back them to come through against the gritty Greeks with a 1 goal winning margin at a price of 2/1. They both make a lot of sense for this one, because it should be Colombia who are in ascendancy in this one. They are a better side than the Greeks.

But then again, Greece know how to grind out points better than most teams, and you won’t see many harder working sides. But is it going to equate to victories? Probably not, because they are badly lacking in the goalscorer department. They have failed to score in three of their last four matches, finally snapping a three match goalless streak with a 2-1 win over Bolivia in their final warm up match. Greece conceded just the four goals in their 10 qualification matches (finishing second behind Bosnia & Herzegovina) but only scored 12. That sums up Greece very well.

Colombia v Greece Betting Odds

Colombia 4/5, Draw 2/1 Greece 17/4

Online betting site Bet365 are extending their popular Money Back Special promotion of their 0-0 Bore Draw Insurance all the way through the World Cup. If a game ends goalless, then you will get lost stake refunds on the Correct Score, Scorecast and Half Time/Full Time markets. Also, place a bet on the World Cup 2014 outright winner market and if your selection gets knocked out on penalties, then you will get your lost stake refunded as a free bet.

Colombia v Greece Predictions

There is a big possibility that this is going to end up being the lowest scoring group of the eight. You don’t expect the fireworks to fly in this one at all. Colombia are the better side of the two, but we all know about Greece and how they can bore their way to points. Would seriously weigh up the draw option in this one at 21/10. But if the Colombians do push for the win, then a 1 Goal Winning margin on them looks decent value at 2/1