Senegal and the Netherlands open their 2022 Fifa World Cup campaigns with a Group A clash on Monday
Odds provided by @SunbetSA are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Group A also includes the Netherlands and Senegal who will clash on Monday.
Senegal
Senegal are one of five African representatives and arguably the best hope for the continent. They were unbeaten in their qualifying group with 5 wins and 1 draw and then they beat Egypt 2-1 on aggregate over 2 legs of the African region play offs. They also won the AFCON title in Cameroon earlier this year, again beating Egypt in the final and they are ranked 18th in the world.
Senegal coach Aliou Cisse will be without star striker Sadio Mane who picked up a knock for Bayern recently. A number of other Premier League stars are in the squad including Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Cheikhou Kouyate and Nampalys Mendy.
Recent warm up matches include a 2-0 win over Bolivia and a 1-1 draw with Iran.
Senegal are 160/1 to win the tournament and 19/4 to top Group A. They are an even money chance to make it to the knockout rounds.
Netherlands
Louis van Gaal coaches the Netherlands who topped their qualifying group with a record of 7 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat to finish 2 points clear of Turkey and 5 clear of Norway whilst Montenegro, Latvia and Gibraltar were the also rans.
The Dutch are on a 15 match unbeaten run across all competitions which includes Nations League wins at home and away to Belgium and they are ranked 8th in the world. Virgil van Dijk is the star turn in defence whilst Memphis Depay has been included in the squad despite having missed recent Barcelona games through injury.
The Dutch are 13/1 to win the tournament and 4/9 to top Group A.
The Betting
Senegal are currently 23/4 to win the game with the draw at 29/10 and the Netherlands can be backed at around 4/7
A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 23/20 and it's 12/10 for both teams to score.
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict:
Whilst Mane's absence is a big blow to Senegal they have a useful squad and, at least against African opposition, they have been very tight defensively.
The Dutch are one of the form sides and you can understand why they are such a short price but I believe there has been an over reaction to Mane's absence in the betting markets and the value here could well be with the draw.
Bets: Match result draw at 29/10
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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