Day nine of competition sees the mighty Brazil back in action against Costa Rica in Saint Petersburg. With little wriggle room considering their opening draw with Switzerland, Brazil will look to make a significant statement that sends a message all teams.
Nigeria and Iceland meet at the Volgograd Arena in a match that the giant killers are more than capable of winning considering Nigeria’s poor performance against Croatia.
The late match pits the promising Serbs against the Swiss; with both teams relatively pleased with their form.
With tipping providing landmines at every turn, Day 9 provides two matches without clear and obvious winners. Although, clear and obvious winners have not been worth much in this World Cup to this point.
Good luck with your tips and be sure to put them into the space below and have your say as the voice of the crowd. Here is the ‘expert’ opinion on the way the ninth day of competition will unfold.
Brazil, Iceland, Serbia
Put simply, Brazil must and will, beat Costa Rica. The Central Americans lost to Serbia in their first game and are desperate for points. Sadly for them, Brazil let two slip in their draw with Switzerland and will not make the same mistake twice.
Iceland should be able to account for Nigeria who were disappointing in their first match. Once again, Iceland found a stunning fairy tale in their draw with Argentina.
This will be a different proposition for the tiny nation, as they will probably enter this game as favourites. Without the backs to the wall attitude will they be able to produce? I think they will.
Serbia and Switzerland looks like a toss of the coin for me and it would be easy to call a draw as a place to settle the indecision.
However, I will go with Serbia, purely based on the impressive things they did in their first match.
Brazil, Iceland, Switzerland
Brazil didn’t get off to the best of starts against Switzerland, but they’ll surely have enough quality to deal with Costa Rica.
They may need to channel more of their football through Philippe Coutinho than the foppish Neymar, but they should comfortably account for Los Ticos.
Can Iceland spring an upset? They’ll have nothing to fear after their heroic draw with Argentina, while Nigeria were desperately poor in their defeat to Croatia.
Both of these sides play a physical brand of football, but it could be Iceland who takes all three points off the back of it.
Switzerland kicked Neymar from pillar to post in their opener, but in the end it was the simplest of goals that resulted in their equaliser.
Both of these sides possess plenty of game breakers, but Switzerland’s experience should count in their favour, and I suspect they’ll win a close one.
(Photo by Jean Paul Thomas/Icon Sport via Getty Images)
Brazil, Iceland, Serbia
Disappointed as Brazil would have been to drop two points in their opening game, it’s far from panic stations for Tite’s side.
They still had over 20 shots against Switzerland, and could have easily been awarded a penalty. That’s not to say they’ve nothing to worry about – Neymar needs to be a more willing passer, and there’s a good case for Roberto Firmino to come into the starting side – but Costa Rica shouldn’t pose too much trouble for Brazil.
Are Iceland the most likeable team in international sport at the moment? It’s impossible to not get right behind this tiny nation on the world’s biggest stage.
Fairy tale sentiment aside, they showed more than enough against Argentina – compact defence, excellent commitment to attack when they went forward – to suggest they’ll be able to defeat Nigeria.
Switzerland might have held one of the tournament favourites to a draw, but I still like Serbia’s chances of progressing to the knockout stages.
I’m not convinced Switzerland have enough in attack to grab a win here, while Serbia’s forward stocks look a little more dangerous.
Or they could always just rely on the magical left foot of Aleksandar Kolarov to find an avenue to goal.
Brazil, Iceland, Switzerland
Brazil looked superb in the opening twenty minutes against Switzerland but strangely seemed to go into their shell thereafter.
They showed enough to get a win here against a Costa Rica side who didn’t play badly against Serbia, but also don’t seem to have enough about them to withhold Brazil’s attacking players.
I quite fancy Iceland to back up their excellent defensive effort against Argentina when they face Nigeria, and cause them big problems with their long throws.
Two goals from set pieces, to continue the theme of this tournament.
Switzerland and Serbia look rather well matched, and surprisingly good in attack, so I imagine this will be a pleasingly good game to watch.
I did think Serbia looked more vulnerable against Costa Rica than Switzerland did against Brazil, and I expect the Swiss to shade a close game.
(Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Brazil, Iceland, Draw
What’s going on with Brazil? First they couldn’t beat Switzerland and now Neymar limps off the training paddock with a dodgy foot.
Are the wheels falling off the Selecao? And here we were thinking they had one hand on the trophy already.
Costa Rica don’t look to be a patch on their 2014 team but could still trouble their more illustrious opponents. Brazil surely must get their act together and I think they will do just enough to win.
It will be a battle between hot and cold countries when Nigeria take on traditional rivals Iceland in Group D.
Nigeria were decidedly cold in their first up loss to Croatia with their Arsenal star, Alex Iwobi, out of sorts.
Iceland turned up the heat on Argentina in their opening game. I do enjoy the direct style of Iceland, usually no more than two touches and a crisp medium to long pass.
Their goal against Argentina was a great example of this method paying off. Iceland to win a close tussle (Ok, the traditional rival’s thing might be a stretch but we need to loosen up a bit).
Switzerland plays Serbia in what could be the decisive game of Group E. In the strategic positioning for qualifying places, which team has the edge?
The Swiss by virtue of their point against Brazil, or Serbia two goals against Nigeria? Both coaches will think they have the upper hand.
There can be no more Swiss cheese jokes about Switzerland’s defence as coach Vladimir Petkovic has them playing more like precision engineered timepieces these days.
The Aleksandar Kolarov-inspired Serbia will need to take the game to the Swiss, which may lead to some openings at the back. A 2-2 draw is on the cards in what could be an attractive fixture.
| Day 9 | Stuart | Mike | Daniel | Tim | Paul | The Crowd |
| BRA vs CRC | BRA | BRA | BRA | BRA | BRA | ? |
| NGA vs ISL | ISL | ISL | ISL | ISL | ISL | ? |
| SRB vs SUI | SRB | SUI | SRB | SUI | DRAW | ? |
| Previous Total | 7 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Day 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| New Total | 9 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
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