2022 FIFA World Cup
Tuesday 6th December 2022
Kick off at 7pm GMT
Venue: Lusail Iconic Stadium
Match Preview:
It’s been an incredible career for Cristiano Ronaldo and he would love to cap it off by winning the only trophy that has eluded him- the World Cup. In recent years Portugal have become a force in football headed by Ronaldo of course and they have won the European Championships in 2016 and the first ever UEFA Nations League a few years later.
Portugal will be the favourites to make it to the quarter finals and they topped their group. They kicked off in entertaining style as they beat Ghana 3-2 and even though the score looks close the game wasn’t and Portugal had goals in them and always looked like getting more. This game was followed up by a 2-0 win over Uruguay and then they lost their last game against South Korea although by then qualification was assured and changes had been made to the team. Unlike for his former club side Manchester United Ronaldo does get to start for Portugal and he will be determined that his side go as far as possible. His former team mate at United Bruno Fernandes has been in great form in this competition and he is one to watch out for, if he isn’t creating goals he is scoring them.
Switzerland are like the new Sweden in that they have little chance to go very far in the major tournaments but can be a genuine banana skin for the bigger nations and can really frustrate their opponents. Take Euro 2020 when France were expected to ease past the Swiss and with an hour gone of that game they were winning 3-1, still that wasn’t good enough and Switzerland came back to 3-3 and went on to win on penalties. The moral of the story is to never write off the Swiss. As for their qualification to the knock out phase the nation got off to a good start by beating Cameroon 1-0. They followed this up with a narrow 1-0 loss to Brazil in a game that looked to be heading for a draw. They were then involved in a frantic and very enjoyable match against Serbia at half time it was 2-2 but the Swiss came out victors and finally won 3-2. Indeed had they scored two more goals then Brazil would have been playing Portugal.
Team News:
Portugal: Nuno Mendes has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament after a thigh injury. Danilo is out with a rib injury and Otavio is a doubt but could be assessed.
Switzerland: Goalkeeper Yann Sommer is being tipped to return after he missed the last group game due to illness and will be assessed. There are no other injury concerns for the Swiss.
Portugal vs Switzerland Head to Head:
The nations have played 25 times and Switzerland has 11 wins, Portugal 9 and there have been 5 draws.
The last time the teams played each other was earlier this year in the UEFA Nations League where Switzerland won 1-0. However just a week before the teams played in Portugal which Portugal won 4-0.
Portugal have won 3 of the last four meetings.
There is a 60% chance to see under 2.5 goals.
Portugal vs Switzerland Prediction:
This is a very talented and experienced Portuguese side and we expect that they will pass this test and move onto the next round. They have the quality to not only win this game but win it big, but if the Swiss stay focused they can make life very difficult. This is the advantage that Switzerland have over most teams at this competition their organisation is very strong even if they do not always have the stars in the team to change a game and win the big ones. Switzerland cannot be completely ruled out although they are 4.00 to win this one and Portugal are just odds on at 1.91.
Whilst we expect Portugal to get the win their method is a guess, and this could be a game that feels like it is over within the hour or it could well go to extra time and penalties but we will back Portugal to get the job done within 90 minutes. Ronaldo as ever will want to be the centre of attention but he will start having to score goals as we have seen him miss quite a few chances so far and his one goal came by a penalty. Not many will be backing the Swiss and they will be up against it because Portugal are so good at upping the pace when they need to and we also see the midfield battle being won by the Portuguese.
Portugal vs Switzerland Betting Tips:
Portugal to beat Switzerland at 1.91
Half Time Score: 0-0 or 1-0 to Portugal at 2.25 and 3.75
Anytime goalscorer: Cristano Ronaldo at 2.50
Anytime goalscorer: Bruno Fernandes at 4.00
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