The World Cup is underway, and fans are eager to place their bets. Yesterday’s games saw some unexpected outcomes, with the USA losing in stoppage time and Australia falling on a draw.
Norway vs. France
Norway and France are already through to the next round, but the game is still highly anticipated. Erling Haaland of Norway has four goals, and Kylian Mbappé has four goals; both are behind Messi. Haaland may not be playing today, though, as there really isn’t much benefit to Norway to have him on the field.
I’m not sure how you take anything other than France in the game. If Norway’s best player is out, France is even more likely to win. I do think they will get another goal from Mbappé, so we will take the player prop on him to score anytime at -125. I also think he will get the first goal at +340.
Uruguay vs. Spain
This game does have some intrigue still. Spain is going to advance with a win, and will advance with a draw. Uruguay has had two games already, and both ended in draws. I think it was a bit disappointing doing it against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. Uruguay simply needs to get a win in order to advance.
I don’t think there is any reason for Spain to take it easy on their opponent here. I think they will likely win this game instead of going for a draw, so I’ll take a shot with Spain at -145.
Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia
The counterpart to the Uruguay vs Spain game is this one. Cape Verde opened their tournament with a draw against Spain, something almost no one expected. They were also able to steal a draw against Uruguay. Now, another draw against Saudi Arabia, coupled with a Uruguay loss, would get them into the next round.
A win would put them into the knockout round, and they could ignore the Uruguay and Spain game. For Saudi Arabia, they only have one point in the World Cup, which means they are likely out, unless they get a win, and even then, they still need some help. Neither of these teams is all that great on offense and prefers to have a defensive presence.
I’ll take two different shots on this: first, I’ll take a draw at +235. I think it is the most likely outcome in this game. I also think that the under 2.5 will be the right play for this game. Neither is very good at offense, and I think whoever gets the first goal is likely to get very cautious.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
