Australia vs Brazil
International Friendly Match
Date: Tuesday, 13th June 2017
Kick off at 11:05 UK/ 12:05 CET
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Australia are gearing up for a busy few weeks as they head into the Confederations Cup thanks to them lifting the Asian Cup last time out. This pits them against footballing giants such as Germany and Chile in the group stages, so this should be an adequate warm up ahead of the competitive fixtures.
There’s no denying that the Australians are in good form at the moment. Their win over Saudi Arabia in the World Cup qualifier last week made it eight games unbeaten for the hosts, with four of those ending in victory.
However, the quality of their opposition is far below that of Brazil. The strongest teams they have faced are Japan and South Korea, so a visit from Brazil will put them into a whole different ball park ahead of their Confederations Cup opener against Germany next week.
Admittedly Brazil haven’t brought a full strength side to this clash. They have left talismanic captain Neymar out, with Dani Alves, Marcelo, Marquinhos, and Roberto Firmino all rested as well. This is undoubtedly the cause of their disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to arch rivals Argentina on Friday, but the squad they have brought to Melbourne should be good enough.
The likes of Gabriel Jesus, Thiago Silva, Phillipe Coutinho, Willian, and Fernandinho are all present, with new Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson also included. Brazil’s apparent second string talents still far outweigh their Australian counterparts.
The visitors defeat against Argentina ended a run of nine wins on the bounce since their exit from Copa America, so there’s nothing to worry about at the moment despite the fans’ disappointment in the result.
Brazil should have enough about them to see off the threat of Australia, but the home side haven’t failed to score in almost two years and with the majority of Brazil’s first team defence not included I don’t think they can keep a clean sheet on Tuesday. Odds of 2/1 for a Brazil Win and Both Teams to Score look fantastic value for money, so we’re going for that along with a 3-1 correct score predictions at 10/1.
Australia vs Brazil: Head to head
The most recent head to head meeting between the two sides took place in early September 2013 when Selecao claimed a demolishing 6-0 victory in a friendly.
Jo bagged a brace, while Neymar, Ramires, Alexandre Pato and Luiz Gustavo also added their names to the scoresheet.
This will be the sixth H2H encounter between the two sides, Brazil leading the tie with three wins.
Australia vs Brazil: Prediction
The Seleccao showed a terrific performance against Argentina last week in spite of the defeat and we must see them as huge favourites to see off the mixed lineup of Australia’s this Tuesday.
Australia vs Brazil: Bet Tips
The main betting pick will be HT/FT Brazil/Brazil at the odds of 2.35
You can alternatively try with Phillippe Coutinho to score anytime at 2.40.
