Football Tips: Gnabry key in this 8/1 Costa Rica v Germany Bet Builder

Both teams can qualify but the Germans should win by a few here.

Costa Rica v Germany world cup betting tips

By / Football Tips, World Cup / 2 years ago

Costa Rica v Germany Bet Builder Tips

Over 3.5 Goals
Both Teams to Score
Germany -2
Serge Gnabry Anytime Assist

*A Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 8/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.

Thursday, December 1, 19:00 – Costa Rica v Germany
TV: ITV, ITVX, RTE Two

Germany must win when they face Costa Rica to advance to the knockout rounds. They’re very much the favourites to do so, but Costa Rica are also still in with a shout thanks to beating Japan last time out. Another three points here will see them advance to the Last 16. Plenty to play for then!

We’ve piled over the stats for both teams here and found the four best bets for a very tasty-looking Bet Builder.

  • COSTA RICA WILL SURELY STRUGGLE IN GROUP E! Here’s our trader’s Costa Rica Team Guide
  • WHAT ARE GERMANY’S CHANCE IN QATAR? Paddy’s number crunchers deliver their verdict in this Germany Team Guide

Over 3.5 Goals

Goals must be on the menu here as both sides will be desperate to make the Last 16. Germany in their first two games really missed having a focal point in their attack but when Werder Bremen’s Niclas Fullkrug was introduced at the 70th minute against Spain they finally had someone to aim at in the final third. You have to imagine that Hansi Flick will give Fullkrug a start here, especially since he’s netted a total of 12 goals over his last 18 games for club and country. 

Costa Rica put in a good display against Japan but really rode their luck in the closing stages as the Japanese lay siege on their goal in an attempt to draw level. With the quality in Germany’s attack we don’t see them weathering the storm at all and we’re looking at at least four goals here. 

Both Teams to Score

We can pretty much take it for granted that the Germans will score, they’ve found the back of the net in 17 of their last 18 fixtures so the question is then will Los Ticos get one past Manuel Neuer?

Of course, the Costa Rican’s scored against the Japanese and they’ll take much confidence from the fact that what was once a steely German backline is long gone. Die Nationalmannschaft have only kept two clean sheets over their last 12 fixtures and one of them was against Oman, the other was against Israel, and as the Germans stream forward in search of goals to kill off the game we can certainly see this Costa Rican side scoring, particularly as they’ve gotten at least one in 10 of their last 12 games.

Germany -2

While we can argue that the Costa Ricas should score here, against what is probably the weakest German back four in many years, the fact is that Germany are by far and away the better side. They got their tactics wrong against Japan, that was clear to see, but against Spain they matched them all over the field and with the introduction of Fullkrug in the second half the Spanish were on the backfoot in the closing stages. 

Indeed, at times that match felt a bit like a basketball game where each team allowed the other onto them in possession, waiting to build up their attacks from the rear. Looking at the match-ups between the individual players around the pitch there’s little to suggest that Germany won’t romp home to a win here and we fancy them to win it by three goals.

Serge Gnabry Anytime Assist

Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry looked dangerous against Spain and made Jordi Alba work hard for his 85 minutes on the field. He was decent against Japan too, setting up Kai Havertz for a goal ruled out for offside before setting up Jonas Hofmann for a great scoring opportunity which he drilled straight at the goalkeeper. He also forced a great double save from Shuichi Gonda in the Japanese goal in the 70th minute.

His stats over his last 41 games for club and country are very impressive with 15 goals scored and 10 created. We’re likely to see Leroy Sane starting too as the Germans will look to get balls out wide to both in an attempt to create more action in and around the box and we reckon he’s the most likely player to set up a goal here.

Costa Rica v Germany Betting Tips

Over 3.5 Goals
Both Teams to Score
Germany -2
Serge Gnabry Anytime Assist

*A Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 8/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.

All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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