Tuesday 01/07/2014, 18:00, World Cup Last 16, Argentina vs Switzerland

Argentina vs Switzerland Betting Preview

Argentina appears to have a fairly easy track at the World Cup 2014, after playing in a not so difficult group that they won without breaking a sweat. Switzerland is hardly a top class opponent and the fact that France demolished them just one week ago is reassuring for the South Americans. On the other hand, the Europeans need to learn some lessons from that lopsided defeat and bolster their defenses, to avoid another meltdown in the elimination round.

Argentina vs Switzerland Betting Odds

At Bet365

Argentina 1.50, Draw 4.30, Switzerland 8.00

Argentina vs Switzerland Betting Tips

Argentina started the group stage rather slowly and won the first two games by a narrow margin, with the decisive goal against Iran coming in the last minutes of the game. Even though they didn't need more than a draw to be sure that they finished at the top of the group, the South Americans shifted into more aggressive gear and tries to steamroll past Nigeria.

On one hand, they can be happy about scoring three times against the team that conceded few goals during the qualification campaign. On the other, it is worrisome that Nigeria who scored the fewest goals of all African teams that qualified for the World Cup managed to put two behind their goalkeeper.

Preparing the match against Switzerland shouldn't be too difficult, because the South Americans can safely use the exact same formation. Messi, Higuain and Aguero are downright frightening for any defense and even if the latter will be replaced by Lavezzi, Argentina's chances to score won't be diminished. The one thing that they need to work on is to close the gaps between the midfield and defense, as they allowed the Nigerians too many chances to break free and threaten the goal.

By comparison, the Switzerland will be unable to resort to its offensive strategy that delivered positive results against both Ecuador and Honduras. Fielding more than one striker would mean that there will be fewer players in the midfield, an area already dominated by the Argentinians. The strategy for Hitzfeld is to defend properly and try to score on counterattacks using Shaquiri and Seferovic.

Key Facts

• Argentina lost just once in the last 18 matches and is riding a five games winning streak
• Switzerland allowed five goals against France, who also had one goal ruled out and missed a penalty.

Argentina vs Switzerland Betting Odds Prediction

Only the most enthusiastic Swiss fans can expect the national team to resist the offensive onslaught of Argentina and advance to the quarterfinals. The odds for a South America victory are too low to be worth betting on, which leaves punters with the somewhat risky but highly profitable spread bet. Argentina to win by two goals or more is valued at odds of 2.50 by Bet365.

Bet: Argentina -1.5 goals @ 2.50 with Bet365