World Cup Round of 16: Portugal vs Uruguay Betting Preview

With the group stage over with, the Round of 16 stage of the World Cup 2018 begins. One of the first games of the knockout stage is the game between Group A winners Uruguay and Group B runners-up Portugal.

World Cup 2018 – Portugal vs. Uruguay

• Date: June 30, 2018
• Betting Odds: Uruguay +179 vs Portugal +207 – Draw +198

This will be the first meeting between the two sides in the World Cup. The teams have played each other twice with Portugal winning the first meeting in a 1966 friendly, while they drew the second friendly meeting in 1972.

Portugal Analysis

Portugal barely made out of Group B and will need to be at their best to defeat Uruguay on Saturday. They played to a 3-3 draw with Spain in their first group match, defeated Morocco 1-0, before playing to a 1-1 draw with Iran.

Portugal finished tied with Spain with five points but lost the goal differential. Now, they must get ready for an Uruguay team that has been very stingy on the defensive end.

Portugal’s offense has run through their star Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored four goals in three games and is one goal behind England’s Harry Kane who leads the Golden Boot race with five goals.

Ronaldo missed a penalty against Iran that would have given them the group leader and a more favorable matchup against Russia in the Round of 16. The team will need him to be great against Uruguay to have a chance to win. Ronaldo will also need teammates like Andre Silva and Joao Moutinho to step up and give them more balance on offense.

Defensively, Portugal gave up four goals in their group games, although three of those goals came against Spain. They did a great job against Morocco but had several lapses against Iran, which could especially against Luis Suarez if they want to advance to the quarterfinals.

Uruguay Analysis

Uruguay topped Group A convincingly and look like one of the best teams in the World Cup. After a close call in their first game against Egypt, which they won on a last minute goal, Uruguay looked better in their second game against Saudi Arabia but was only able to gain a 1-0 victory after missing multiple scoring opportunities.

Uruguay’s offense finally came alive in the final group match, defeating Russia 3-0. They are the only team in the World Cup that hasn’t given up a goal, which is even more impressive because they shut out the highest scoring team in the tournament in their own house. 

Offensively, Suarez and his teammates should be able to find holes in Portugal’s defense but they will need to play with the same defensive intensity they showed in their first three games, especially against Ronaldo, who will make them pay if they make too many defensive mistakes.

They will also need to stay composed against Portugal, especially if they go down, which is something they have struggled with in the past, most particularly Suarez, who has made quite a few poor decisions on the field during his career. However, Uruguay’s defense is solid and experienced with the likes of Atletico Madrid center back partners Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez.

Pick

Portugal will likely be the popular pick in this match, but Uruguay has been the better team so far and play much better defense, making them the smart choice.

Don’t expect a high-scoring match, but rather a tight game which will probably be decided by one goal. The UNDER is the likely pick.