World Cup Group B Preview and Best Bet

Welcome to Part 2 of my World Cup preview where I will take a look at Group B.

In this series I will go through each group and give you my quick thoughts on each team as well as my prediction of the final standings.

Once through the groups I will preview my predicted 2nd round match ups and work through to my predicted 2018 World Cup Winner.

For those of you that like a bet I will also include my cheeky 5ver best bet for each group.

So be sure to check back in on my page as we lead up the World Cup.

Group B Prediction

1st Portugal
2nd Spain

Morocco
Iran

Iran

No real surprise here with Iran tipped to finish bottom of the Group but rest assured they are no easy beats.
Whilst they were in the more friendly final group qualifying in ASIA they could not of been more impressive.
With the exciting Sardar Azmoun up front they finished undefeated and top of the group, 7 points clear of South Korea.
Azmoun incidentally plys his trade for Rubin Kazan in Russia so will be no stranger to the World Cup surrounds.

The rest of Iran's squad is spread around the world but none from any of the major leagues and they lack the star power to succeed here.
Recent friendly results have also been good for Iran winning 3 out of 4 albeit against lowly opposition in Sierra Leone, Uzbekistan and Algeria.
They will meet a lot stronger opposition in the this mini group of death.
While Queiroz has got his group playing great team football they have copped a brutal draw and any points gained would be a success for them.

Players to Watch

Sardar Azmoun
Reza Ghoochannejhad
Saeed Ezatolahi

Morocco

The Moroccan's can not be underestimated after qualifying ahead of the more fancied Ivory Coast in a tough African qualifying group.
They have a rock solid Defence marshalled by Juventus centre back Benatia that did not concede a single goal in the 6 matches of 3rd Round African qualifying.
El Ahmadi from Feyonoord is the Midfield General in the CDM position and he will be charged with breaking up a lot of attacking sorties from their more flashier Group opponents.
They also have speed and some real X factor in the final third with the inventive Ziyech from Ajax and Southampton's Boufal.
Morocca have also won their 2 recent friendlies against Serbia and Uzbekistan so are coming into this World Cup with almost flawless form and full of confidence.
They play Iran first up and I think they will get the 3 points there so Portugal & Spain are going to be coming up against a very confident opponent who are extremely difficult to score against.
I have Portugal and Spain ahead of them but if either are the slightest bit off, Morocco could shock and pinch the 2nd qualifying spot.
Will be a very interesting watch.

Players to Watch
Mehdi Benatia
Karim El Ahmadi
Hakim Ziyech

Spain

After winning the World Cup in 2010 the Spanish Golden Generation officially came to an end when they didn't get past the Group Stage at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Further disappointment awaited them in the 2016 Euro's when they were knocked out in the Round of 16.
Leading into this World Cup, Spain seem rejuvenated and were near perfect in World Cup qualifying, where they won 9 of their 10 matches to finish at the top of their Group.
Spain scored an amazing 36 goals and only conceded 3.

Spain are strong on every line and possess one of the best goalkeepers in the world in De Gea of Man U.
They also have some extreme scoring power in their Midfield and up front with Diego Costa back in form now he has returned home to Atletico Madrid.
Costa's return to Atletico has certainly benefited both Club & Country and with Morata surprisingly left out of the squad, I expect Costa will be key for Spain up forward in this tournament.
Spain have a wealth of riches in the middle of the park.
Their midfield is full of craft and guile with Iniesta, Isco and Silva who if he is not creating goals, is scoring them himself.
It will be interesting to see who makes the starting 11 as Thiago has also been in wonderful form for Bayern Munich and his quick creative passing is deadly.
If he does come off the bench, expect him to impact the contest straight away.
Sergio Ramos will lead their stingy Defence that also consists of Barcelona's Pique and Alba.

Spain will also carry strong recent form into the tournament as their last 2 friendlies have consisted of a 1-1 draw with powerhouse Germany and an amazing 6-1 smashing of Argentina.
Granted Argentina did not have Messi or some of their other first team players on the park but they are still a quality outfit, so 6-1 speaks volumes of the power Spain are bringing to the table.

Spain could very well win the whole tournament much less this Group but I have them finishing a surprise 2nd.
Despite all their Midfield riches I still worry about their scoring power up forward and as good as Costa, Aspas and Co are, they are no Villa/Torres combination.
This combined with the fact they are meeting 3 very stingy defences in this group could see them drop points unexpectedly.
Whilst I can't fault their results leading in, I do question the quality of the majority of opponents they have played in the last 2 years.
Their qualifying group consisted of Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Israel, Albania and an Italian side that is probably the weakest it's been in 50 years.
The Moroccan defence and the Ronaldo led Portugal will be much harder tests.

Players to Watch
David Silva
Sergio Ramos
Thiago
De Gea

Portugal

I have Portugal springing a mini surprise here and topping the group and not just because of Ronaldo.
Ok, well mostly it's because of Ronaldo but they were very strong in qualifying winning 9 out of 10 in a Group that contained a very competitive Switzerland outfit.
It's also worth remembering these guys are the 2016 Euro Champions so it is surprising they are not being hype'd up more and they are not one of the favourites.

When you possess arguably the best player on the planet you are always a chance and Portugal could definitely go all the way in Russia.
Ronaldo refuses to slow down with age and he was immense in qualifying, scoring 15 goals to be the top scorer by a mile.
His domestic form for Real Madrid was still supreme and he scored another 26 goals in La Liga this season to finish 2nd only to Messi.
Ronaldo isn't the only weapon up Forward for Portugal with 22 year old Andre' Silva scoring the 2nd most goals in their qualifying Group with 9.
The AC Milan striker has a big future ahead of him and could make a big name for himself at this World Cup.
When you look at the Portuguese squad they actually have a good mix of experience and exciting youngsters.

Taking a look at the rest of their team now and their Defence firstly is very strong, as evidenced by only conceding 4 goals from 10 games in qualifying.
Sporting's Rui Patricio is still the number 1 in goal and Bruno Alves, Fonte & Pepe bring a load of experience to the table.
Expect to see them joined by the young attacking Borussia Dortmund full back, Raphael Guerreiro.

Their defence is strong and they have weapons up forward but their midfield lacks a little on depth and firepower compared to some of the bigger teams like fellow group opponent Spain.
The experienced Carvalho will again be called upon to be the glue between defence and midfield in the CDM position.
A lot will be asked of veteran Moutinho again and he will be joined most likely by Bernard Silva in the heart of the midfield.
Portugal will need their midfield to be dangerous to take some of the reliance and pressure off Ronaldo.
Recent results have been a slight concern with a 2-1 win over a Salah less Egypt and a 3 nil loss to a Netherlands side that did not make the World Cup this time out.
Portugal can be slow starters in tournaments so hopefully they get any rust out in the up coming friendlies against Tunisia and Belgium because they meet Spain straight off the bat in their first Group match.

Players to Watch

Ronaldo
Andre Silva
Bernardo Silva
Pepe

Cheeky 5ver Best Bet

Portugal to win the World Cup

ODDS: 23-1

Why?

Because they are the reigning European champions and possess arguably the Greatest Player of All Time in Cristiano Ronaldo.
They also boast great form after winning 9 out of 10 matches in a qualifying group that contained Switzerland and Hungary.
They have the experience and know what it takes to go deep in tournaments.
Given this is likely to be his last major tournament at international level, Ronaldo will be desperate to clinch the one trophy that has eluded him thus far and complete his legend.

That's it for Group B and thank you for reading.

Be sure to check back soon for the next group.

• Dahmsy79