Football betting: Impressive Croatia ready to send Ronaldo and Portugal packing
Portugal have the new competition format to thank for reaching the knockout stages of Euro 2016.
They failed to win a single game in a group containing the likes of Iceland, Austria and Hungary. But changes in qualification rules meant three draws were enough for them to progress.
Most of their hopes, just like their chances, fell to Cristiano Ronaldo in the group stages, yet it took him until the third game to find his scoring boots.
He tried and failed, even missing a penalty, to open his account against Austria and Iceland, then bagged a brace in Portugal’s 3-3 draw against Hungary.
Those goals should now relax both Ronaldo and his team-mates, so I recommend buying total goals at 2.2 with Sporting Index when they come up against Croatia in the last-16.
Croatia came from behind to grab all three points against a strong Spain side just days ago and it was enough to secure them top spot in Group D.
They also beat Romania and only a last-gasp penalty denied them another victory against the Czech Republic.
Croatia had no trouble scoring, netting five goals in their three matches, while conceding just two in the process. As a result, I’d suggest taking the 6/4 with Betway for them to beat Portugal in 90 minutes.
Key player Luka Modric missed the victory against Spain with a slight injury but is likely to provide a welcome boost to Croatia with his return.
Pointers
Croatia 6/4 (Betway)
Buy total goals 2.2 (Sporting Index)