Football Results

The second duel in the first round is also the derby of group E, considering that Brazil and Switzerland are considered main favourites to pass in the round of sixteen, while Brazil is still a big favourite to win the title, while the Swiss would contend with quarter-finals, which would be a step forward for this team. Brazil was great in the qualifiers and they were the first national team to secure the placement in Russia, and they continued in a great rhythm in their friendly matches. Switzerland has won the World Cup through playoff, although it cannot be said they played badly in the qualifiers and they were very good in friendly matches after that. Their last mutual duel was of a friendly character, and Switzerland has celebrated in that 2013 with 1-0.

Brazil

Five time world champions are coming in Russia for their sixth title and this is nothing new because Brazil is always known to aiming for the first place, and everything below can hardly satisfy the fans of this football giant. For example, in the last World Cup, they were stopped in the semi-finals, but it was a real debacle for several reasons. They were the hosts and it is clear that they wanted to win the trophy even more, however, they were mastered with 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals and that is a defeat that will be remembered for a long time, and there is also a heavy defeat in the fight for third place from Netherlands. Many said that it would be better that they were eliminated in the group stage than to have experienced such two debacles, but four years later everything has been forgotten and now the Brazilians are again looking very powerful.

They have passed through South American qualifiers with only one defeat and they were the first to directly qualify for the World Cup, while they played very good in their friendly matches. They were only defeated by Argentina and it is the only defeat for coach Tite on Brazil's bench. They have solved the last four friendly matches in their favour without any goals received, and the total score on seven preparatory matches was six wins and one draw, with only one goal scored. They are weakened on the right back, because Dani Alves and Rafinha are absent, but it was not felt in their duels with Croatia and Austria. Neymar has returned and that was the most important thing, and he even managed to achieve two goals in the mentioned duels, which means he is in good shape.

Probable lineups Brazil: Alisson – Danilo, T.Silva, Miranda, Marcelo – Casemiro, Paulinho, Coutinho – Willian, Neymar, G.Jesus

Switzerland

Switzerland does not have champion ambitions at this World Cup and they were not very good in the qualifiers but this team can be a very unpleasant rival to all and they have the right to hope for a good result in Russia. They have made nine wins in a row in qualifiers, but they failed in the final tenth round when they played away against the European champion Portugal, so they had to perform in the playoffs. They have struggled with Northern Ireland and one goal has decided the match, and here they are again in the World Cup. They also appeared in Brazil four years ago and passed the group stage, however, they were stopped by Argentina in the round of sixteen, though they provided excellent resistance.

They also played at the European Championship two years ago in France and they also reached the round of sixteen, where they defeated by Poland. Now they have a great desire to make a step further, but they have to reconcile with the role of outsider in this duel. They played very well in four friendly matches after the playoffs and they celebrated three times, while we need to particularly mention their triumph of 6-0 over Panama. They have played a draw with Spain 1-1, and that is the proof that they can parry even their best rivals. In their last friendly match before the World Cup, they managed to defeat Japan with 2-0 and have come to Russia practically in the strongest team, because G. Xhaka has recovered on time. They have performed ina somewhat more offensive team against Japan, but we now expect a composition as against Spain.

Probable lineups Switzerland: Sommer – Lichtsteiner, Schar, Akanji, R.Rodriguez – G.Xhaka, Behrami – Shaqiri, Dzemaili, Zuber – Seferovic

Verdict:

Brazil is playing really great and they have come to Russia with huge optimism, but that does not mean that it will be easy to win Switzerland at this opening. The Swiss are known to be a very unpleasant rival and they have nothing to lose in this duel, so we expect them to provide a very good resistance to the favoured rival.

Pick: Asian Handicap +1.5 Switzerland 1.74 - 74/100 @1XBet