World Cup betting free picks: Italy vs. Paraguay
Added on Jun 14, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
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Of course the big sports betting event internationally is the World Cup, and play continues on Monday with Group F play between Italy and Paraguay. Italy is the defending World Cup Champions, while Paraguay is a very solid team in their own right. This game will go at 11:30 AM Pacific from Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa. It’ll be televised live on ESPN in the US.
Italy vs. Paraguay
June 14, 11:30 AM Pacific
Italy may not be favored to repeat their World Cup title, but they remain a very dangerous adversary. The biggest concern has been the age of their core players, but they are still a very talented and tactically sound side which excels at defense. They’ll never win any award for exciting offensive play, but during the qualification and preparation process for the World Cup have once again demonstrated the ability to do what is necessary to win games. They qualified with a 7-3 mark, but a 1-3-1 record in their warm up games for the tournament could be a preview of what we can expect here.
Paraguay is something of an underrated side, but they’re taking a big step up in class here. They qualified third in the South America COMNEBOL division, one point behind Brazil. Their big problem was form away from home–they were 7-2 at home but only 3-3-3 away in qualification. Despite this uneven home/away form, they’re expected to advance to the knockout stage simply due to their group seeding–both Italy and Paraguay are just more talented teams than either New Zealand or Slovakia.
That does set up a game where both sides will be playing ‘not to lose’ as opposed to looking for the win. Italy in theory is the superior team, but they’re also one given to playing a contained style. In other words, they’re not a team that will look to extend a 1 goal margin–they’re more likely to try and protect the lead. Paraguay is in a similar situation as the USA in their game against England–a draw is virtually a ‘best case scenario’. With both teams trying to avoid a loss more than looking for the win, we’ll play the game accordingly.
Bet Italy/Paraguay DRAW +206
