Saturday’s World Cup tips: A fantastic foursome awaits

Odds and previews ahead…

The World Cup kicks into hyper mode today with four games live from across Russia.

Group C and D take precedence with France v Australia and Peru v Denmark from the former, and Argentina v Iceland and Croatia v Nigeria from the latter.

You can read an in-depth Big Match Breakdown of Argentina’s clash with Iceland here. But for the other three games, the Coral News Team have you covered.

France v Australia, 11:00am

France kick off their quest for World Cup glory with arguably their easiest game of the group stage. Didier Deschamp’s side will look to make a statement against the Socceroos in this opener.

Les Bleus are 1/4 to win, with Australia at 11/1. The draw is available at 19/4. Surely France will be too good here, as the odds suggest?

Deschamps has an outrageous pool of talent to choose from all over the pitch. Plus, the last time the teams met, back in 2013, it ended 6-0 to France. The French’s main man will be Antoine Griezmann. The Atletico Madrid forward had another sparkling campaign, scoring 32 times.

The 27-year-old is 11/10 to score Anytime and he’s also been boosted to score 2+ from 4/1 to 5/1. He managed six goals at Euro 2016 and could, at least, equal that in Russia.

Peru v Denmark, 5:00pm

The Coral football traders have made Denmark favourites in this clash at 11/8. But Peru – 11/5 to win – could be dark horses in terms of qualification for this group.

Los Incas were impressive in South American qualifying, making their first World Cup since 1984. Denmark struggled a little in their group but blasted past Ireland with a Christian Eriksen hat-trick.

The Tottenham Hotspur man will be vital to the Dane’s hopes. They’re a solid outfit anyway. But Eriksen gives them that X-factor.

If he plays to his ability, he’ll be the best player on the pitch. And that gives Denmark a slight edge. Eriksen is the subject of another Coral boost, too. He was 11/5 to score Anytime. He’s now 12/5.

Croatia v Nigeria, 8:00pm

Few games scream ‘World Cup!’ like Croatia v Nigeria. The Croatians are big favourites here at 8/11 to win. Nigeria are out at 17/4, with the draw available at 12/5.

In terms of star names and quality, Zlatko Dalic’s outfit are in pole position. Croatia are reasonably solid at the back, an embarrassment of riches in midfield, and potency up top.

Nigeria have prepared poorly in the warm-up games. But that generally doesn’t mean too much when it comes to the real thing. They’ll be reliant on the likes of Victor Moses, Jon Obi-Mikel, and Alex Iwobi.

But the likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, and Mario Mandzukic should have too much organisation and quality to be beaten.

Nigeria do tend to play attacking football and should be good for a goal. Croatia and Over 2.5 Goals is 11/5. Mandzukic is 4/1 to be First Goalscorer.

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All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing