Switzerland v Honduras Betting Preview

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Written by James Beckett Wednesday, 23 June 2010 07:20

Switzerland take on Honduras knowing a win should be enough to book a place in the last 16 of the World Cup. Honduras themselves have faint hopes making it in to the knock-out stages, however in truth they are probably betting for pride in Bloemfontein. Honduras would need to win, hope Chile beat Spain, and have 3 goal swing.

Stranger things have happened, and coach Reinaldo Rueda will be hoping his side can perform better then they did in their opening two games. Against Chile, the Hondurans struggled to create any real chances, with striker David Suazo rarely seeing the ball. It was the same against the Spanish, however Rueda's side must be praised for the way they kept the score at only 2-0 after been overwhelmed for much of the game.

Veteran striker Carlos Pavon may be the answer to their problems upfront. The 36 year old has 57 goals in his 101 caps for his country, and could come in for Walter Martinez, who saw very little of the ball against Spain.

Odds courtesy of betfair

Switzerland: 1.53

Honduras: 7.4

Draw: 4.4

Prediction

Switzerland 1-0 Honduras

A scrappy affair is decided when Frei stoops at the back post to nod in the only goal of the game. Honduras press for an equaliser but just don't have enough, and Switzerland make it in to the last 16 of the World Cup

Maynor Figueroa will be out to marshal the side from the back, while Osman Chavez will be hoping for slightly easier game, after Barcelona striker David Villa gave the right back a torrid time on Monday.

Switzerland on the other hand will be hoping to recapture the sort of form that saw them beat Spain in their opening game of the tournament, but they will be without West Ham midfielder Valon Behrami after he was sent off against Chile.

Tranquillo Barnetta will probably be the man to come in for Behrami, while Erin Derdiyok will be looking for a start after impressing during a substitute outing against Chile. But with manager Ottmar Hitzfeld needing goals, he will probably opt for the experience of Alexandre Frei and Blaise N'Kufo.

Switzerland should have enough about them to see off the hard working Honduran side, but given that the Swiss notoriously struggle for goals, and how well Honduras have done to keep the scores down in their previous games, it may be a frustrating evening for the Hitzfeld.

But with players like Barnetta and Frei, Switzerland will always create chances, and you would expect them to just have a little too much going forward for the Honduras defence to cope with, and to be fair, you can't see Switzerland having problems at the back with the negative approach that Honduras have adopted so far.