Usual Disclaimer: Gambling is for over 18’s (says the 23 year old who has been gambling for about 16-17 years), and only bet money that you can afford to lose.
As I continue to struggle to pick a winner of a game in any shape or form, at least the other selections are beginning to come in with James Rodriguez scoring for Columbia and the Saturday quarter-finals both giving less than 2.5 goals in normal time.
With only two games to choose from, I’ve managed to scrape together four doubles from the games to provide a bit of interest as well as a value bet on the winner.
The first semi-final matches up Germany and Brazil in a game where if you compare the two respective sides, it isn’t really close.
Coach Scolari has over-achieved to get an average Brazil side with a couple of world class players to the semi-finals. Without Neymar and Thiago Silva, this game against Germany becomes a huge task to overcome.
The Germans have been strong and despite Muller not scoring in their last couple of games, they are still getting through quite easily. They have much more depth in their squad compared to Brazil, and they can beat anyone on their day. If the Germans can score, they will fancy themselves to hold out against an attack led by Fred.
The second semi-final brings an intriguing match-up as Argentina meet the Netherlands.
Two teams in this tournament that have attempted to attack the Netherlands 5-3-2 formation, but both Spain and Chile found the Dutch counter-attacking too strong for them. Argentina will push forward against the Netherlands but they will have to take their chances and be watchful while attacking as Robben has been in excellent form in this tournament so far.
Finding a way to fit Aguero and Messi into a team while keeping both in their preferred positions and styles has been difficult for Argentina, and in a way, Aguero’s injury had meant the problem had been solved. So, it will be interesting to see if Aguero comes in for the injured Di Maria or not.
I can see there being goals in this one, as neither defence is great. If the Netherlands have to revert to a back four at any point, Argentina will benefit hugely from this as Costa Rica troubled the Dutch towards the end of the game before their ‘Krul’ penalty defeat.
Here are my tips;
Germany and Argentina to qualify – 2.3/1 Ladbrokes
Muller and Robben to score anytime – 12.3/1 BetVictor
Muller and Messi to score anytime – 7.05/1 BetVictor
Germany vs Brazil – Under 2.5 goals and Argentina vs Netherlands – Over 2.5 goals pays 3.19/1 with 888Sport
Germany to win the World Cup – 11/4 Coral
