WORLD CUP PREVIEW Tues: Portugal v Switzerland

The final last 16 game before a break until Saturday and the quarter finals. How will we survive with no World Cup action !

The final quarter finalist will either be Portugal or Switzerland and little has separated the pair in recent head to heads.

It’s no surprise to see Portugal trading as favourites on starsports.bet for the 7pm match at the Lusail Stadium – the Ronaldo factor alone probably sees to that but I think this could be a LOT closer than the odds might suggest.

Indeed, who knows how the next episode in Ronaldo-gate will play out? Portugal’s coach Fernando Santos seemed riled by Ronaldo’s reaction to being substituted in the 65th minute in their final Group stage game and whether he even starts is up in the air. Santos has refused to comment on the matter.

Portugal v Switzerland
FIFA World Cup 2022 Last-16
7pm ITV1,STV,ITVX,STV Player

HEAD-TO-HEAD
SEP 2016 WORLD CUP Switzerland 2-0 Portugal
OCT 2017 WORLD CUP~ Portugal 2-0 Switzerland
JUN 2019 NATIONS LEAGUE Portugal 3-1 Switzerland
JUN 2022 NATIONS LEAGUE Portugal 4-0 Switzerland
JUN 2022 NATIONS LEAGUE Switzerland 1-0 Portugal

PORTUGAL
SEP 2022 NATIONS LEAGUE Czech Rep 0-4 Portugal
NOV 2022 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY Portugal 4-0 Nigeria
NOV 2022 WORLD CUP Portugal 3-2 Ghana
NOV 2022 WORLD CUP Portugal 2-0 Uruguay
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP South Korea 2-1 Portugal

SWITZERLAND
MAR 2022 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY Switzerland 1-1 Kosovo
NOV 2022 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY Ghana 2-0 Switzerland
NOV 2022 WORLD CUP Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon
NOV 2022 WORLD CUP Brazil 1-0 Switzerland
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP Serbia 2-3 Switzerland

The Swiss have failed to reach the quarter finals in their past seven attempts but their form this year stands up well and they might not yet be in the mood to be booking online with SwissAir.com.

Wins over Cameroon and Serbia look decent enough but just going down by a goal against Brazil looks very solid form now after the way Brazil despatched South Korea to reach the quarter finals on Monday night. They held out until the 83rd minute glorious half-volley from Casemiro was enough to settle things.

The downside about Switzerland’s game against Brazil was they didn’t manage a single shot on target but generally they haven’t been shy when it comes to scoring.

If Switzerland do win this they will have to do something they’ve never done before – win three games in a World Cup tournament but it’s a chance I’m willing to take with the odds, as ever, making the decision relatively easy.

I’ll play the Switzerland win in 90 minutes at 100/30 with starsports.bet and also take a little of them doing it style at 13/2 for them leading at HT and FT.

DAVID STEWART

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RECOMMENDED BETS

BACK Switzerland (90 mins) 3pts at 100/30 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Switzerland/Switzerland 2pts at 13/2 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

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PROFIT/LOSS (WORLD CUP 2022): LOSS 35.83 points (after matches on Mon 5 Dec, includes TWO GOOD bonus on CAMEROON v SERBIA 28 Nov)
(Will include returns from both the OUTRIGHT and SPECIALS previews too)

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STAR PROMOTIONS