Nigeria and Iran are in for a tough ride as they have been drawn into the Lionel Messi group. As such, this is a must-win game early in the competition that could easily decide which team advances along with the Messi-powered Argentinian team.
Play for an advance yourself by taking 30 seconds to predict your World Cup final and you could win $500. Otherwise, read on for everything you need to know about this group stage game for some early winnings.
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Nigeria vs. Iran, World Cup 2014, Group Stage Betting Preview and Prediction
Nigeria is making its fourth appearance in the World Cup in Brazil. The Super Eagles aren’t a threat to win the group, but they have a decent chance at placing second. The team is filled by young, talented athletes, but they lack an offensive oomph. Nevertheless, they have a good defensive balance capable of quickly transitioning to counter attacks.
[sc:Soccer240banner ]The Super Eagles are particularly strong in the midfield. John Obi Mikel from Chelsea and Victor Moses from Liverpool figure to be the key players in the position, and could help the Nigerians control the pace of the game.
Mikel is a strong tackler capable of quickly taking possession of the ball. Once he has possession, Mikel is a skilled passer who can release counter attacks and shift towards offense efficiently. However, his tackling can be high risk. He collected six yellow cards playing for Chelsea last season.
Nigeria lacks a legitimate scoring threat. Moses may lead the way for them offensively but even he had just one goal in six appearances for Liverpool. He will not be the answer the Nigerians need on the scoresheet against a tough Iranian defense.
Nigeria has never advanced past the group stage in the World Cup. This year may be their best chance. Create a betting account now to get into the action on this exciting African side.
Betting on Iran
Iran is also making its fourth appearance in the World Cup this year. For this campaign, they are employing Carlos Quieroz as their team manager. Quieroz managed Portugal in the previous World Cup, but his defense-first structure led Ronado and company to be scoreless in three of four games played.
Not one to change his ways, Quieroz turned Iran into a very solid defensive team. In the qualifiers, they conceded just two goals in eight games played.
The Persian Stars will likely revolve around their longest active player, team captain Javad Nekounam. Playing as a defensive midfielder, Nekounam topped off his 135 caps in 13 years by scoring four goals in qualifying. He is likely to be Iran’s main scoring outlet. However, another important duty for him will be setting up counter attacks for their strikers with his simple but effective passes.
With a focus more on defensive transitions, Iran isn’t likely to get past an equally defensive Nigerian team.
In their World Cup qualifying campaign, Iran scored an average of 1.88 goals per game.
Writer’s Prediction
Both Nigeria and Iran lack enough offense to score enough against each other. These two teams will play to a draw, so take it at +210 to take advantage of this game.
