Much like Group B, our 3rd section sees 2 more European sides that will expect to progress to the knockout stages with France and Denmark fancied to qualify ahead of the returning Peru and 5 times qualifiers Australia. Group C
Much like Group B, our 3rd section sees 2 more European sides that will expect to progress to the knockout stages with France and Denmark fancied to qualify ahead of the returning Peru and 5 times qualifiers Australia. France has a wealth of talent at their disposal, as evidenced by the names they have actually failed to include in their squad (Lacazette, Coman, Martial, Payet, Ben Yedder, Gameiro and Rabiot to name but 7), and they are heavily fancied to make a big impact in Russia with the French 4th favourites to lift the trophy @6/1 While I do expect the former champions to have little trouble in progressing, I have my doubts that they are quite ready to repeat the glory of 1998 with Les Bleus a bit leaky defensively. Still, they should have little trouble in winning the group and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go as far as the semis or even the final with so much talent available to head coach Deschamps. Antoine Griezmann had another terrific campaign with Atletico Madrid and I fancy the blond (not literally) to finish as the French top goalscorer at 6/4 odds. Griezmann scored 29 this season for Atletico while he also finished top scorer in France’s qualifying campaign with 4 goals and I like his chances of making a big impact in these finals. The Atletico striker is 12/1 to finish top goalscorer and with matches against Australia, Denmark and Peru to come, he may well emerge from the group with at least 3 goals to his name. I do expect the French to make a strong impact on these finals and you can back them to reach the semis @6/5 with anything less bound to be hugely disappointing to a nation that has seldom had so many good players to choose from. Denmark and Peru look the likeliest to join the French and while the Danes are favourites to progress ahead of the Peruvians, I do expect the returning South Americans to make life difficult for their more experienced opponents. Peru last appeared at the World cup when this writer was still 4 months from joining planet earth so it is fair to say that the Peruvians will be fairly pumped for their return to the world’s biggest stage and with captain Paolo Guerrero reinstated following his drug ban for drinking come cocoa tea, they could provide a real test for both the French and the Danes who will seek inspiration from their captain and talisman Christian Eriksen. Eriksen may well prove the difference between the Danes and the Peruvians who do lack genuine quality at their core but both sides are hard to beat and we should see an interesting and perhaps decisive contest when these two square off in the opening round of fixtures. Australia are the underdogs in this section and it’s easy to see why having only won 1 of their last 9 matches at the World Cup, Tim Cahill and co bowed out of the 2014 event having lost all 3 fixtures, conceding 8 goals in the process and the 38-year-old former Everton star is included once more. The Socceroos have failed to win any of their last 10 away matches and struggled to qualify for this year’s finals having lost to Japan and being held to draws by Iraq, Syria, and Thailand. While they should perform a little bit better here, I still expect them to finish bottom of the group again at ⅘ odds with the Danes and Peruvians expected to battle it out for the 2nd qualification spot. Ultimately, I expect France to win the group with Griezmann their main protagonist but beyond that, I’m not picking a winner between Denmark and Peru with both sides looking fairly evenly matched but I do expect both to finish ahead of the average Aussies who look set to struggle once more. Best Bets Griezmann top team scorer (France) @6/4 - 2.5 stars Eriksen top team scorer (Denmark @7/4 - 2 stars France to win the group @2/7 - 4 stars Australia to finish bottom of the group @4/5 - 3.5 stars Qualifiers France and Denmark to qualify @10/11 - 3 stars France to reach the semis @6/5 - 2.5 stars Group D This should be one of the more competitive sections in the group with Argentina and Leo Messi joined in the section by tournament debutants Iceland, former semi-finalists Croatia and a talented but inexperienced Nigeria. Argentina was so close last time out, losing in the 2014 final to Germany but I don’t expect them to go that far this time despite plenty of attacking firepower at their disposal. With the likes of Aguero, Dybala, Higuain and of course, Lionel Messi, there are certainly goals in this Argentine outfit but defensively they are suspect and the loss of their first choice goalkeeper Sergio Romero doesn’t help their prospects either. Still, when you have Messi, you will always have a chance and the Argentines cannot be written off in this year’s event but they will have to work hard to emerge from a section that all 4 sides will feel confident of escaping. Nigeria has lost their 4 previous meetings with Argentina at the World Cup but they have some decent talent emerging in their ranks, particularly those from the Premier League including Chelsea’s Victor Moses, Alex Iwobi of Arsenal as well as Leicester pair, Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho. The Super Eagles have not lost a World Cup qualifier since 2004, going unbeaten in 36 matches on their own continent but past performances at the finals have been poor by comparison. Nigeria have only managed 1 win in their last 12 matches at the finals, losing 8 of those and I don’t expect them to add too many wins here with Croatia and Iceland likely to provide stiff opposition in their quest to qualify. Iceland looks the value selection to join Argentina in the second round @11/4 odds given their incredible form over the past 3 years but in reality, this group is really tough to call with Croatia and Nigeria both capable outfits on their day and I do expect all 4 teams to drop points. Argentina are 8/13 to top the section and that looks pretty likely given their wealth of attacking talent while Nigeria to finish bottom of the group @7/5 also offers some value with Iceland once again under-estimated by the bookies. Best Bets Argentina to win the group @8/13 - 3 stars Nigeria to finish bottom @7/5 - 1.5 stars Qualifiers Argentina and Iceland to qualify @ 9/2 - 1 star Comments are closed.
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