Chile and Australia come into their Sunday finale of Group B play having picked up draws in their last games. Chile drew an inexperienced and young German side, 1-1, while Australia and Cameroon also played to a 1-1 impasse. The Chileans head into the matchup agains the Aussies as favorites in the soccer odds.
As of now, Chile and Germany are tied at the top of the Group B table and Chile only needs to avoid a loss to advance to the semifinals of the 2017 Confederations Cup. Australia would need a win and some help to leapfrog one of the two front-runners and qualify for that round of four. These two teams last met competitively in 2014 at the World Cup, where Chile picked up a 3-1 victory.
Chile vs Australia 2017 Confederations Cup Soccer Odds & Preview
When: Sunday, June 25, 2017, 11:00am ET Where: Spartak Stadium, Moscow TV: FS1 Radio: None Live Stream: Fox Soccer 2Go Soccer Odds: Chile 9/25, Australia 7/1Why should you bet on Chile?
Arturo Vidal remains a force of nature for Chile, pushing up the field to lead the offensive attack and then zipping back into his own penalty area, marking runners as they try to turn the tide. He’s not a silver-bullet substitute; instead, he does this for 90 minutes at a time, forcing other teams to deal with him on both ends of the pitch. He creates room for Alexis Sanchez, who picked up his 38th all-time goal for the national team in international play, moving him past Marcelo Salas to the top slot in Chilean lore, and he has picked up more than 100 caps in his career. We saw, against Germany, that Chile can press just about as well as any other team in the world. They are athletic and they have the fitness to press for all 90 minutes — and even the defenders push all the way up. It was that press that gave Chile the turnover that led to Sanchez’s goal. All they have to do is pick up the draw against Australia to advance, and I don’t see Australia having the attacking frenzy to break through the Chilean chaos and find the net.
Why should you bet on Australia in the soccer odds?
When Australia drew Cameroon on Group B play, it ensured that either team would need a win in the final game to advance to the semifinals. However, this was definitely Cameroon’s game in terms of possession, and it was their inability to finish that allowed the Socceroos to pick up that point. Cameroon used a high press to keep taking the ball, but their forwards (notably Vincent Aboubakar) just kept missing on them. They should have had at least three goals, so the Australian side is lucky to even sniff a chance at advancing against Chile. When Australia did move the ball well, it came up the side, generating multiple crosses that could also have led to multiple goals. The forward runs could have been sharper, but Cameroon’s problems on the back sides were exposed by Australia’s advances. It was a penalty kick that came off of a bad tackle by Cameroon’s Ernest Mabouka that gave the Socceroos their lone goal of the contest. Australia also had troubles on the back line, which they desperately need to fix if they want to have a chance of winning here.Latest Game Results
Chile
- Tie – June 22nd, 2017 vs Germany. Score: 1-1
- Victory – June 18th, 2017 vs Cameroon Score: 2-0
- Loss – June 13th, 2017 vs Romania. Score: 3-2
- Tie – June 9th vs Russia Score: 1-1
- Victory – June 2nd vs. Burkina Faso. Score: 3-0
Australia
- Tie – June 22nd, 2017 vs. Cameroon. Score 1-1
- Loss – June 19th, 2017 vs Germany. Score: 2-3
- Loss – June 13th, 2017 vs Brazil. Score: 0-4
- Victory – June 8th, 2017 vs Saudi Arabia. Score: 3-2
- Victory – March 28th, 2017 vs United Arab Emirates. Score: 2-0
