Portugal vs Spain Betting Tips

Group B in the 2018 World Cup is probably one of the most intriguing groups and one that could be ripe for an upset.

Quality wise there is a big divide as on one side you have the two powerhouses in Portugal and Spain. On the other side you have Morocco and Iran. However the latter two – especially Iran – are great at frustrating opponents and we all saw what Iran did in 2014 where they almost kept Argentina from scoring.

What it means is that the games against Morocco and Iran aren’t easy walks for either of these two teams so every single game is crucial and this is a big one.

Spain will hope for a better effort to open the tournament than in 2014 when the Netherlands thumped them 5-1. They didn’t get off to the best start at Euro 2016 either needing an 87th minute goal from Pique to beat the Czechs.

Of course their qualification story was beautiful with 10 games and 9 wins and 1 draw to take Group G. They scored at will and were bloodthirsty in games against Liechtenstein which is always nice to see.

Winners of Euro 2016, Portugal went 9-0-1 in qualifiying. They were very impressive defensively as well and after a 2-0 loss to the Swiss to open it, they never looked back.

Should be a very interesting matchup although the sportsbooks think Spain are the clear favourites.

Portugal vs Spain Betting Odds:

Spain To Win: 1.90
Portugal To Win: 4.20
Draw: 3.30

(Odds on this page are correct as of 2018/06/09 11:22:11 PM EST but are subject to change)

Spain Analysis:

Obviously this team is damn good. Lopetegui is unbeaten and has had them playing very well. They have some great talent and no surprise are one of the favourites.

It shows how important a manager can be. I mean most of the guys here were participants in Euro 2016 where they really didn’t look good at all.

The only real concern for Spain is the lack of a David Villa like goalscorer. That’s the type of thing that they are missing and which will hurt them in the latter rounds. I can’t see someone like Diego Costa really stepping up unfortunately.

Missing that goalscorer is the key thing and it’s going to hurt Spain when they get to the knockouts where teams play that much tighter.

Portugal Analysis:

They won the European Championships and now they look to take down the World Cup. Can you imagine if CR7 did that after taking down the Champions League just a few weeks prior? That would be amazing.

They’re one of those teams that I feel are on the cusp of being…not extinct…but this is the last real big chance for them. CR7 is aging but a lot of the other guys such as Bernardo Silva and Gelson Martins have gained a lot of experience. We’ll see a more solid team performance than usual.

Their main issues are in defense. I mean I’m a Rangers fan and I can honestly say Bruno Alves should not be here. The guy also gets frustrated often and that doesn’t bode well when Spain are passing the ball about 500 times.

A lot of their strength is in counter attacking but this is going to be a tough group to do that. Spain are not a team who give up possession easily and Iran and Morocco aren’t the most attacking teams.

It’s interesting because after winning the Euros, the narrative is that Portugal aren’t the underdogs anymore and aren’t the “dark horse”. Yet on paper, I think it’s going to be very tough for them. Of course paper can’t factor in someone like Ronaldo.

Portugal vs Spain Betting Tips:

I’ve went back and forth on this one a lot. At the end of the day I just think Spain have the overall quality. In saying that people always underestimate Portugal and Spain on the big stage have had some issues. I’m doing a small bet of Spain to win for 1u.

Bet Spain to win at https://www.Bovada.lv