World Cup predictions, picks: Brazil vs Switzerland

So far this World Cup we’ve seen a couple of the favorites stumble and a few others solidify their place at the top of the board.

Brazil were one of the latter.

It may have taken a little while for La Selecao to find the opening against Serbia on Thursday, but once Brazil found its rhythm they looked like world-beaters.

The tournament favorites ended the night with a 2-0 victory and the expected goals, which ended up 1.8 to 0.2 in favor of the South Americans, suggested it was a fair scoreline.

But perhaps the most impressive part of the performance was that basically everyone who watched Serbia vs. Brazil thought that the Eagles were a game opponent. Serbia were not bad, Brazil were just excellent.

Brazil will look to book its spot in the Round of 16 with a win over Switzerland on Monday. La Selecao are -210 favorites.

Note: Odds updated as of 1 p.m. ET on Nov. 27.

Switzerland is also coming off a victory in their opening match. In true Swiss soccer fashion, the Rossocrociati quietly took care of business in a 1-0 victory over Cameroon, the biggest underdog in Group G.

As a team, Switzerland excels at playing a well-structured, defensive style that keeps them in matches against more talented opponents. That pragmatic approach can put the Swiss in hot water against lesser teams, but they were able to scratch out a result against the Indomitable Lions thanks to a goal from Breel Embolo.

Before Embolo’s goal, the Swiss did seem to struggle to find their footing as they’re not a great side when the other team cedes possession.

That won’t be the case on Monday, as Brazil can expect to have a vast majority of the ball, while Switzerland sits back and looks to pick a spot to counter.

That can make Switzerland dangerous underdogs against teams that struggle to defend in transition, but Brazil’s midfield, led by Casemiro, is adept at snuffing out counterattacks and allowing the offense to do its thing.

» READ MORE: World Cup 2022: Latest odds to win the tournament

Thus, instead of focusing on the team markets, there is some value backing Vinicius Junior to open his World Cup account.

Although Richarlison stole the show for the Brazilians in their win over Serbia, Vini Jr. was right there with him and ended up with four shot attempts, one shot on goal and an assist. The Serbian defense ran out of answers against Vini Jr., and we could see a similar script play out against a Swiss defense that will need to cope with Neymar, Richarlison and Raphinha as well as Vini.

At +210, there’s value backing Vinicius Jr. putting one in the onion bag on Monday.

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