Icongene

I took Rennes at 2.12 tonight. They should be too strong for Nimes who are in some terrible form and had some dreadful (h) results recently. Rennes have a great chance to capitalise and go clear in 3rd tonight.

Tranmere v Watford off due to rain.

@BHAadam: Lazio can still qualify if Celtic beat Cluj and Lazio win. They can still win it on the H2H.
 

happy with that hope you did it @harry_rag

I agree on Peru. I've taken them to win. 2.5 is a juicy price. The Aussies are a committed but very average outfit who fail to play through their best player Tom Rogic, the only guy in the squad capable of doing something sublime.
This World Cup is a huge deal for Peru and I'd have no reason to doubt their commitment here. They'll be backed by a big support and winning a match will still be a huge incentive for them.
They haven't played badly either, perhaps just a little naive and lacking in composure in the final 3rd.

Madness to think that a one goal win for Sweden and a two goal win for Germany will send Mexico home. Would be extremely harsh.
If I had to predict it I would be inclined to back the draw and you’d imagine it’ll be a low scoring affair. I think Mexico are rightly slight favourites due to their performances so far but if Sweden get their noses in front I’d fancy them to hang on. I just don’t see Mexico winning all three group games.

Madness to think that a one goal win for Sweden and a two goal win for Germany will send Mexico home. Would be extremely harsh.
If I had to predict it I would be inclined to back the draw and you’d imagine it’ll be a low scoring affair. I think Mexico are rightly slight favourites due to their performances so far but if Sweden get their noses in front I’d fancy them to hang on. I just don’t see Mexico winning all three group games.

I'm on Uruguay to top the group at 5/6 and separately 5/1 to win all their group games.
Uruguay are very strong with some world class players, Cavani hitting 10 goals in qualification and finishing 2nd behind Brazil and ahead of Argentina.
Most worried about the opening game vs Egypt and wouldn't be surprised to see a 0 - 0 or 1 - 1 given the opening games being tight affairs. At 5/1 with Saudi Arabia almost being a gimme it seems a decent price for them to win all 3.

I agree on Peru. I've taken them to win. 2.5 is a juicy price. The Aussies are a committed but very average outfit who fail to play through their best player Tom Rogic, the only guy in the squad capable of doing something sublime.
This World Cup is a huge deal for Peru and I'd have no reason to doubt their commitment here. They'll be backed by a big support and winning a match will still be a huge incentive for them.
They haven't played badly either, perhaps just a little naive and lacking in composure in the final 3rd.

Great shout on Iran @Tiffy 
 

Great shout on Iran @Tiffy 
 

Agree with Pep.
Really fancy Croatia here especially given the Argies result. Wouldn't surprise me if they win the group.
I just don't see it with Nigeria. Nothing to suggest they will get more than a draw here if lucky. Croatia can take control of the group with a win and fancy them to.
Took Croatia with a boost of WilliamHill @1.75.

I had a tasty little draw double on both Morocco/Iran and Spain/Portugal.
Iranians:(

Sweden vs South Korea
In what is arguably the least appealing game since the tournament opener between Russia and Saudi Arabia, Group F sides Sweden and South Korea face-off against each other in a 1pm BST kick-off this Monday afternoon at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod... try not to take your teeth out saying that!
Long gone are the heady days of USA '94 for Swedish fans and the 2002 World Cup on home soil for South Korean supporters. The memories of Thomas Brolin et al and the Guus Hiddink-inspired red army are fading with every passing year. These are two countries that have seen better days.
Janne Andersson's team have transitioned well to the post-Zlatan Ibrahimovic era. Nobody gave them a hope of qualifying for this World Cup. Their squad is far from one of the best they have had but they managed to navigate their way into the play-offs from a tough group that included France, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, and Belarus. They then defeated Italy 1-0 on aggregate in the play-offs effectively preventing two major footballing nations from attending this year's tournament. Party poopers.
Shin Tae-yong's players made hard work of qualifying from their group in the Asian section. Pipped to top spot by Iran (I say pipped but they were 7 points behind in a 10 game phase!) they then had Iran to thank for holding Syria to a draw with South Korea being held to a draw away to Uzbekistan in their final game. Had Syria won that game then they'd have condemned South Korea to the play-offs and qualified automatically themselves.
A win is a must for both teams here if they want to maintain realistic hopes of making it out of this group. Germany and Mexico are currently the favourites to qualify for the 2nd Round but both of these nations will have something to say about that. Sweden have only lost 3 of their last 10 games compared to South Korea only winning one of their last six matches. I am backing Sweden to do the business here. They are a very cohesive unit now since the retirement of Ibrahimovic and could be a team that relies on its team work and work rate to progress.
Sweden to win @ 2.08 with Unibet
Total Goals Scored Under 2.5 @ 1.53 with SunBets

Agree with Pep.
Really fancy Croatia here especially given the Argies result. Wouldn't surprise me if they win the group.
I just don't see it with Nigeria. Nothing to suggest they will get more than a draw here if lucky. Croatia can take control of the group with a win and fancy them to.
Took Croatia with a boost of WilliamHill @1.75.

Croatia -0.5 @1,80
We were able to see that there will be no easy match. Especially in the first round, where especially those well-disciplined teams, with defensive approaches, are capable of surprising much much better opponents. After all, it is only 90 minutes and everything can happen. Here, two very talented squads will meet. Nigeria has some very interesting individuals, some very physical players, capable also of running a lot, but on the other side, we have Croatia with some extremely experienced players, used to play Champions league finals almost every year and tactical advantage is the one, I think will decide the winner on this match. Comparing player to player, Croatia is without a doubt a better side, but Iran, Australia, Iceland have already shown that everything is possible. I think that in overall, odds on Croatia are too high and very valuable. I would set Croatia max at 1,60 as in my eyes they are right behind all those top favorized countries (Brazil, Germany, France, Spain). With Modrić, Rakitić, Kovačić, Badelj, etc... their midfield will be amongst the best on this tournament, they have experienced defensive line and some very good players higher on the pitch (especially Perišić). I expect, that they will get the job done here and start the World Cup with three points. As said at the start of the World Cup, I quietly expect Croatians in the first place in this group. 

Agree with Pep.
Really fancy Croatia here especially given the Argies result. Wouldn't surprise me if they win the group.
I just don't see it with Nigeria. Nothing to suggest they will get more than a draw here if lucky. Croatia can take control of the group with a win and fancy them to.
Took Croatia with a boost of WilliamHill @1.75.

Morocco vs Iran
In a group where the other two teams are Portugal and Spain, I'm not saying the hopes of the losing team here will be over after this first match but... well,  it wouldn't be looking good would it! Morocco versus Iran in a 4pm BST kick-off at the Krestovsky Stadium in St Petersburg is all or nothing for these two underdogs of Group B.
Morocco did well to qualify for the World Cup in a group that also contained Ivory Coast, Gabon, and Mali. Throw into that the fact that they drew their first two qualification matches 0-0. The remarkable statistic from their qualification campaign being that they managed to not concede in all six of their group games.
Iran were also defensively superb in their qualification campaign. Carlos Queiroz's side set a new record for clean sheets when they held South Korea to a 0-0 draw on 31st August, 2017. That made it 12 consecutive qualifiers without conceding. Funnily enough, they conceded two goals in their last qualifier.
So you probably won't be surprised to hear I'm not expecting this game to be littered with goals. I can see neither team wanting to lose this game. They are two sides that base their play on a solid defensive base. However, I look at the attacking options of both sides and Iran just about sneak it for me. Sardar Azmoun is the stand out player for Iran with 23 goals in 33 caps. He also scored Alireza JahanBakhsh is also one player to watch who could create that defining moment.
Morocco might have some talent in the locker in the form of Ajax midfielder Hakim Ziyech but will it be enough? Striker Ayoub El Kaabi has scored 11 goals in 10 caps but can he do it on the big stage rather than against the likes of Mauritania, Guinea, and Libya? A few tipsters are backing Morocco to do the business here but I think Iran could get a narrow win.
Iran to win @ 4.00 with Betfair
Total Goals Scored under 2.5 @ 1.40 with Ladbrokes

Wow. That Saudi defense is absolutely pathetic.
 
Can't wait for Uruguay to get tore into them.

First bet of the tourney. 
Saudis +2 @ 1.60
Russia are weak, and the Saudis are going to keep it tight as fcuk at the back.
If Russia go 1 goal up they will close up and sit tight defensively so just cannot see them chasing goals here.
Any win will do for Russia and in any of the 3 games. Performances mean bugger all. If the Saudi's score Russia probably wont have an answ er so fancy this bet to come in.

These will go up in their own threads as the tournament goes on. A separate thread will be created for each day of games and these will go up 2-3 days before each game. This ensures discussion doesn't get lost and things don't get confusing.

Agree that Russia should score a tight win here but don't see any worth in them outright nor do I trust this Russian team.
Under 2.5 goals looks a decent shot.

Agree that Russia should score a tight win here but don't see any worth in them outright nor do I trust this Russian team.
Under 2.5 goals looks a decent shot.

Agree that Russia should score a tight win here but don't see any worth in them outright nor do I trust this Russian team.
Under 2.5 goals looks a decent shot.

It's Germany, France, Spain or Brazil.
Put 1 unit on each of them and the minimum profit is 1 unit. Easy