2018 FIFA WORLD CUP

2018 FIFA WORLD CUP – Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia PREVIEW

The best team in the group faces the worst. A game where everybody expects Uruguay to destroy Saudi Arabia. Uruguay started off the tournament with a good late win against Egypt putting themselves in a great position to advance, meanwhile Saudi Arabia put in the worst performance of the tournament out of all teams getting embarrassed 5-0 by Russia. After that performance, nobody expects Saudi Arabia to do anything and this is expected to be an Uruguayan goal fest.

URUGUAY

Uruguay started off their campaign with a tough, late win against Egypt with a 1-0 score line. An 89th minute winner by Gimenez was the difference. Uruguay looked relatively average as a whole, but they had positives. Their centre back pairing of Godin and Gimenez looked incredibly solid as they always do and Egypt couldn’t get past them. These two will most likely snuff everything out coming into the second game. Their strike partnership had very different performances. Cavani looked great and was unlucky to score hitting the post and being denied by the keeper. Cavani also created a couple great chances for others including Suarez who didn’t take it. Suarez looked awful in the first game, he didn’t look mentally ready for that game, missing a couple chances he’d normally put away and it’s a slight worry for Uruguay because their star man needs to be on his game for them to go far and they’ll hope Luis gets a few goals against Saudi Arabia and gets himself going. Uruguay’s biggest weakness their midfield were really poor, especially Vecino who kept giving the ball away. Overall it was a performance that Uruguay can and should improve on. Being able to win a game where they didn’t look their best can only tell us that Uruguay have the capability to grind out a result. Coming into this game they’ll look to make easy work of Saudi Arabia.

Coming into this game Uruguay will be expected to score quite a few goals. Coming up against a much weaker opposition, they’ll try to get off to a quick start. Most important thing for Uruguay is to get their midfield play to work and to get Suarez mentally right. Suarez getting a few goals quick be crucial for him and it may kick start his campaign. The things they need to continue to do from the last game is to stay solid at the back and don’t give away any stupid chances to Saudi Arabia. Uruguay looked solid at the back in the first game and they’re more than likely going to keep another clean sheet in this game. A win here would put Uruguay through to round of 16 so they’ll be full of motivation to take care of business. Expect them to dominate and get some goals.

SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia’s backs are against the wall and they have a daunting task. After that disgusting performance in the opener, now they have to face a much tougher side in Uruguay. It’s highly unlikely that Saudi Arabia will pull off a surprise here. In the opening game Saudi lost 5-0 to Russia which was just disappointing, especially after the way they competed with Germany and Italy in preparation games. Their defending was exposed and their attacking play was horrible, only creating one chance. They kept giving the ball away against Russia and kept getting punished. The lack of quality showed massively in the first game and surely coming up against Uruguay they cant play any worse, can they? Saudi Arabia has been the worst side of the tournament so far by far.

Coming into this game, Saudi Arabia has to find some sort of quality in their play. Surely Saudi Arabia can’t play any worse than they’ve done in the opening game. Saudi Arabia will be on the back foot for most of the game, nobody expects them to win, but at least they need to go out there and put in a respectable performance. Most important thing for them is try to not concede very early in the game, otherwise the flood gates might open again. If Saudi Arabia can frustrate Uruguay then that’s their best bet on stealing something from the game, or at least avoiding of a smashing. Honestly don’t know how they deal with Cavani and Suarez given the way Saudi Arabia performed in the opening game. They need a MIRACLE.

Prediction

I think we won’t see any surprises here. Uruguay are a far superior side, with one of the best CB and ST pairings in the tournament. It’s highly unlikely that Saudi Arabia can break down Uruguay’s defence in this game especially given the way they performed in the first game. We should expect Suarez to bounce back from the poor performance in the opener and for him to bad a few goals, Cavani should get a goal here too. Can’t see anything other than a dominant Uruguay win. Expect Uruguay to score 4 or more and to keep a clean sheet in this game.

Group Standings

1 Russia 6 pts +7 GD

2 Uruguay 3 pts +1 GD

3 Egypt 0 pts -3 GD

4 Saudi Arabia 0 pts -5 GD

ODDS – Decimal (WilliamHill)

Uruguay Win – 1.17

Draw – 6.50

Saudi Arabia Win – 17.00