A week of non-stop World Cup action ends on a high as Spain take on Germany on Sunday evening. We’ve taken a look at all of Sunday’s fixtures and provided our best betting tips and score predictions ahead of the matches.
If you like the look of our picks, you can back Japan, Belgium, Croatia and Germany to win at 12/1. You can even go one step further with NetBet’s free-to-play Score Predictor, where four correct scores in a single day could see you win a share of the £1,000 top cash prize.
Japan vs Costa Rica
These two nations have perhaps been drawn the most difficult group. With Spain and Germany to contest with, neither will be particularly confident in advancing to the knockout stages. But stranger things have happened! Japan will certainly be favourites to come out on top in their second match against Costa Rica.
The Japanese squad is made up of players applying their trade across the world’s leagues, including Premier League, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 talent. They have an incredibly dynamic attack, with Monaco man Takumi Minamino and Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma sure to cause even the bigger nations problems. They should come out on top.
Japan win – 1.66
Score prediction: 2-0
Belgium vs Morocco
Belgium have a tricky group themselves, with Morocco likely to provide a stern test for Roberto Martinez’s men. Morocco have some talent in forward areas, namely the overlapping runs of Achraf Hakimi and crossing ability of Hakim Ziyech. However, the midfield is their likely downfall.
Belgium have physical, industrious ball winners in Axel Witsel and Amadou Onana, as well as world class creativity in Youri Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne. That’s not to mention the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard in the final third. We’re not sure Belgium have what it takes to reach the latter stages of the tournament, but they should qualify from their group.
Belgium win – 1.59
Score prediction: 2-1
Croatia vs Canada
Canada will be an exciting team to watch in Qatar. They have some real young talent throughout the squad, but they are likely to come up short against an incredibly experienced Croatia. The 2018 World Cup runners-up epitomise the word solid. They don’t score an awful lot of goals, but they don’t concede many either.
A fantastic midfield trio of Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic is among the best competing at Qatar, and they will dominate proceedings on the ball. Given how capable they are defensively, one goal will likely be enough to see them claim all three points.
Croatia win – 1.73
Score prediction: 1-0
Spain vs Germany
This is the biggest game of the tournament thus far between two former champions. Both have very well-rounded squads filled with experience and world class players. Spain’s lack of an elite goalscorer could be what keeps them from having a real run at the final. They will dominate possession with the technical quality in their midfield, but they seem to be lacking a real cutting edge.
Germany’s style will be a complete contrast to Spain, but we think it’ll be more effective. They will look to be direct with their pacey wingers and boast an international veteran goalscorer in Thomas Muller. They could be one-to-watch in Qatar.
Germany win – 2.83
Score prediction: 0-1
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