Thursday’s World Cup Top Tips: Brazil On the Spot to Beat Serbia

The shocks kept coming yesterday when Japan stunned Germany with a 2-1 win in Doha.

After finishing bottom of their group in 2018 it was unthinkable that they'd do so again but the German's are going to need to pull out all the stops against Spain and Costa Rica to keep their dreams alive.

That was a sore one for punters, as was the early 0-0 draw between Croatia and Morocco. Spain's match against Costa Rica went to script but Belgium's win over Canada was tough on the underdogs who deserved more from the match.

As predicted, penalties were a major feature on Day 4 once more with another three awarded. We've compiled a list of potential penalty-takers today below.

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Tournament favourites, Brazil are the last to make their bow in Qatar when they meet with Serbia this evening.

They'll have watched Argentina toil against Saudi Arabia and will be keen to avoid a similar embarassment and make a statement about their chances of lifting the trophy for a record sixth time.

Serbia topped a group that included Portugal on the way to qualifying but with Azerbiajan, Luxembourg and a transitional Republic of Ireland in their group they had a relatively easy route. This match feels like a bit of a free hit for the Serbs who'll be targetting theit matches against Switzerland and Cameroon for points.

Brazil are just 9/20 to win but given how some of these opening games have gone you'd be reluctant to get involved at that price. Neymar looks most likely to fire the Brazilians and he's 5/4 to score. The PSG star is on penalty duty so the chances of him netting look good.

However, the best strategy could be to get involved in penalties once more. The award of a penalty is just 6/4 whilst it's 10/3 for Brazil to score from the spot.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been a divisive figure at Manchester United this season, which of course has ultimately forced his exit from Old Trafford, and there are question marks over his position within the Portuguese squad. Coach Fernando Santos looks set to keep the faith with the 37-year-old who'll be desperate to sign-off from major tournaments with a strong showing.

There's no Diogo Jota but the Selecao have plenty of firepower going forward, whether it will come together on the pitch is a different matter.

Opponents Ghana have arrived at previous World Cups in better shape but could make things difficult for Portugal in the opener.

2/5 looks way too short to get on board with the Portuguese but it's a game that could feature goals. He may not be at the peak of his powers these days but there's always the chance of the net rippling when Ronaldo is on the pitch. BTTS has failed to land in Portugal's last six matches but they have scored four in three of those against Nigeria, Czech Republic and Switzerland. 10/11 on Over 2.5 Goals looks attractive.

Odds on penalties being awarded have been slashed left right and centre after 8 in the opening 12 matches. Here's a list of today's likely penalty takers for each team according to a list published pre-tournament by Yahoo!…

Today's potential penalty takers (Anytime scorer odds)

• Switzerland – Ricardo Rodriguez 11/2
• Cameroon – Vincent Aboubakar 3/1
• Brazil – Neymar 5/4
• Serbia – Aleksandar Mitrovic 3/1
• Uruguay – Luis Suarez 2/1
• South Korea – Son Heung-min 3/1
• Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo 11/10
• Ghana – Jordan Ayew 13/2

Our in-depth World Cup coverage is now up and running. Big thanks to KevMac, Mark Walker and SlipsTips for giving us the benefit of their research and insight for the upcoming tournament. Group by Group Betting Tips are all available Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H as well as featured markets; Golden Boot, Golden Glove, Group Stage Acca, Dark Horses and Outright Winners.

We'll also be previewing all 64 matches in Qatar in partnership with Highbet who'll be providing exclusive free bets as prizes throughout the tournament. Watch this space!

Super Singles

• Brazil to score a penalty 31/10 Bet365
• Portugal v Ghana – Over 2.5 Goals 10/11 Bet365

Upcoming Match Previews & Tips

• SlipsTips Tips: Brazil vs Serbia
• Thu 10:00 Switzerland vs Cameroon
• Thu 13:00 Uruguay vs South Korea
• Thu 16:00 Portugal vs Ghana
• Thu 19:00 Brazil vs Serbia
• Fri 10:00 Wales vs Iran
• Fri 13:00 Qatar vs Senegal
• Fri 19:00 England vs USA

Golf Tips

The DP World Tour season has hardly finished but it’s all about to begin again with a couple of low key affairs this week in Australia & South Africa. The Caddy previews this week's Joburg Open.

• Golf Betting Tips: Australian PGA Championship Best Picks and Preview

Racing Tips

With the quality of racing not being the best, a couple of short-priced horses have caught the eye for Thursday's racing,

• Racing tips: Today's longer trip will bring out the improvement required to win for Tfou

As always, let us know your best betting tips and predictions for today in the comments section below and good luck with all your bets!

World Cup 2022 Coverage

• What's coming up? View a list of upcoming World Cup Fixtures.
• Missed a match? Check out our World Cup Results for all the latest full-time goals.
• Think you know who will win outright? Then View our World Cup Odds comparison tables from top UK bookmakers.
• Betting Offer: We have collected world cup betting offers all in one place so you don't have to.
• Group by Group Betting Tips; Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H.
• World Cup Betting Tips; Golden Boot, Golden Glove, Group Stage Acca, Dark Horses and Outright Winners
• Highbet: Sportsbook and online casino with 30+ sports, 100's of betting markets and competitive betting odds.

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