Group B is not wasting any time before pitting head to head the top two teams in the group with Portugal and Spain set to collide in an Iberian Peninsula neighbor wars this coming Friday. Spain and Portugal are also the top two favorites in Group B, so winning team in this matchup should be positioned in a path towards the knockout stages.
Any discussions about Portugal begins and ends with Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo is 33-years-old now and may be a little bit slower than he used to, but he’s still Cristiano Ronaldo, the same player who owns a nice collection of Ballons d’Or. Portugal also comes into Russia flying high after winning the European championships and a 3-0 beatdown of Algeria in a friendly match last week. Prior to that, Portugal drew with Euro power Belgium, 0-0. Besides Ronaldo, other player to watch out for in the Portugal side are the Goncalo Guedes and Andre Silva. Both should be able to capitalize on the attention Ronaldo is surely going to draw up front by securing chances to score and hopefully convert on those opportunities. Portugal are priced with +2,500 odds to win the World Cup.
Betting on Spain (-0.5 Spread)
It’s quite shame for Portugal, who, as mentioned, are the defending European champions, to face a super power like Spain right out of the gates in Russia. The Spaniards are all set to bounce back from a dismal 2014 campaign in Brazil, where they failed to get out of the group stage. The Spaniards are not lacking in experience with the likes of Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, David Silva, and Diego Costa all coming back from the 2014 campaign to help the Spanish side which is labeled with a +600 odds to win it all this year in Russia. The midfield is definitely the strength of this squad, but don’t sleep on their goalkeeping with the dependable Manchester United netminder David De Gea in between the sticks. Neutralizing any Portugal attacks that slips through Spain’s back line will be easier for the team with De Gea acting as the last line of defense.
