Portugal and Ghana clash in 2022 FIFA World Cup Group H action on Thursday.
Cristiano Ronaldo has made headlines because of his issues at Manchester United, but his commitment to Portugal’s success has never been questioned.
The Portugal roster is full of talent, the main issue is, can head coach Fernando Santos fit all the pieces properly?
Look for Joao Felix, Rafael Leão, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva to get plenty of time on offense. The Portugal defense with players Danilo Pereira, Ruben Dias, Nuno Mendes and Joao Cancelo is also a strong point.
Ghana’s main problem is depth, but their roster is also decent, led by midfielders Thomas Partey and André Ayew. Partey has been one of the keys to Arsenal’s success this season. They look like a completely different team when he plays. André Ayew and his brother Jordan bring a lot of experience and a combined 42 international goals.
The player to watch in this game is Rafael Leão, who has six goals and four assists in 14 Serie games with AC Milan this season. AccuScore gives Rafael Leão a 38.4 percent chance to score against Ghana. He has 50 SCA and 5 GCA in 14 Serie A games with AC Milan this season.
FBRef defines SCA as “the two offensive actions leading directly to a shot, such as passes, dribbles and drawing fouls.” GCA is “the two offensive actions leading directly to a goal, such as passes, dribbles and drawing fouls.” Let’s take a closer look at where the value is at in this matchup.
Dafabet Picks
Team to Win (Regular Time)
• Portugal 1.40
• Ghana 9.60
• Draw 4.80
Spread
• Portugal -1, -1.5 (1.96)
• Ghana +1, +1.5 (1.97)
Total
• Over 2, 2.5 (1.85)
• Under 2, 2.5 (2.05)
Key Points to Consider
Head-to-Head: These two sides last matched up in World Cup action on June 26, 2014 and Portugal won 2-1.
Projected Leaders
For Portugal, Rafael Leão has a 38.4 percent chance to score. He averages 2.6 shots overall per sim, 1.36 shots on goal per and 0.49 goals per sim.
For Ghana, Mohammed Kudus has an 11.7 percent chance to net the ball. He averages 0.34 shots overall per sim, 0.23 shots on goal per and 0.13 goals per sim.
Analyst’s Pick
There’s not exactly a big weakness in Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo should be motivated playing in possibly his last World Cup and Ghana has an uphill battle against this extremely talented Portugal team.
Portugal -1, -1.5 (1.96)
Two-star (out of four) AccuScore hot trend pick on Portugal in this one. Average score in simulations is Portugal 2.01 to Ghana 0.39.
Make sure to check all other MLB, NFL, NCAA, NHL, NBA and soccer game predictions from AccuScore and Dafabetsports.com
Leave a comment
Link Dafabet