New Zealand vs Portugal - 2017 Confederations Cup Preview and Odds

Published on: 24/06/2017

New Zealand vs Portugal - 2017 Confederations Cup Preview and Odds

June 24, 2017 16:00pm - Stadion Krestovskyi

Confederations Cup - Group A

Following two straight defeats, New Zealand are already out of this year`s Confederations Cup, but they will look to go out on a high by giving a good account of themselves against the reigning European champions.

Despite being the tournament minnows, the Oceanic international champions have performed well and will certainly give Portugal something to think about. In their last match against Mexico, they were leading at the break before eventually falling to a 2-1 scoreline. They have now lost four matches in a row, scoring just one goal in the process. As a result, they will need to play the game of their lives if they are to prevent their opponents from gaining the point they need to progress to the knockout phase.

The southern hemisphere side have no fresh injury concerns but may decide to give some game time to squad players ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Portugal will be looking to do more than just scrape a point in this game as they attempt to build momentum ahead of the next stage. After drawing their opener against Mexico 2-2, they squeezed past the hosts by a single Cristiano Ronaldo goal. That strike took the Real Madrid mans tally to 14 in the last 10 games for club and country.

While New Zealand will try to find a way to neutralise the threat of Ronaldo, Portugal will be keen to show that they are more than just a one-man team. With four points on the board and their easiest fixture still to play, their tournament trajectory has so far been satisfactory. However, they will be looking for a convincing win here. Since their Euro 2016 triumph, they have lost just one competitive game.

Full back Raphael Guerreiro remains the only doubt for Fernando Santos` men with Eliseu ready to step in should he fail to recover in time.

Recent form (All competitions)

New Zealand: LLLLW

Portugal: WDWWL

Betting odds and tips

In what will be the first ever meeting between the two sides, it is hard to imagine anything other than a Portugal win. The Euro 2016 champions have yet to lose a game in this tournament and with all due respect to their opponents, this can be considered their easiest fixture yet. With that in mind, a fairly comfortable win can be expected.

You can back Portugal to Win by a two-goal margin at 3/1 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 24/06/2017

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (24/06/2017 09:07:38) but are subject to change.