Mexico and New Zealand meet in group play in the 2017 Confederations Cup on Wednesday from Sochi, Russia, the home of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Mexico drew with Portugal in their group play opener, 2-2, while New Zealand fell to Russia, 2-0, to start their Cup. El Tri is the favorite in the soccer odds against New Zealand.
If New Zealand can mount a more effective defense against Mexico, using their height on the back line and taking advantage of mistakes from Mexico, they have a chance to find the back of the net, but they have to do a better job of exploiting those chances than they did on Saturday in their opener.
By the way, Mexico has shown a great deal of offensive flair in recent weeks, moving to the top of the Hexagonal standings in World Cup qualification in CONCACAF, but as they showed in the draw with Portugal, they also yield some quality defensive chances. Mexico should come in confident after drawing Portugal, though, so the All Whites will have all they want on their hands.
Mexico vs New Zealand 2017 Confederations Cup Soccer Odds
When: Wednesday, June 21, 2017, 2:00pm ET Where: Fisht Stadium, Sochi, Russia TV: FS1 Radio: None Live Stream: Fox Soccer 2Go Soccer Odds: Mexico at -2-133 / New Zealand +2+113Why should you bet on Mexico?
To begin with, that draw with Portugal was a huge boon for El Tri. They came out in a 4-3- 3 formation, which pushed Portugal’s defense in a way that they did not expect. Mexico also left defender Rafael Marquez on the bench for the entire night — which played a role in Portugal getting the chances they did. If Mexico starts Marquez on Wednesday, that could lock down New Zealand for good. The Mexican side focused on containing Cristiano Ronaldo, which meant that scoring opportunities abounded for such stars as Ricardo Quaresma, who opened the scoring. While Mexico did go down 2-1, Hector Moreno came up huge in the waning minutes of the second half to get the equalizer. Moreno (#15) is Mexico’s player to watch in this match. He has been transferred from PSV Eindoven to AS Roma, a major step up in club play, and at 29, he is at his prime for a center-back. He is the centerpiece of Mexico’s defense, and he will be the one focusing on New Zealand’s real only offensive threat, striker Chris Wood. His height will challenge a Mexican defensive squad that is shorter. However, Moreno has held his own against the best forwards in Europe in club play.Why should you put your money on New Zealand?
New Zealand played Russia in a 5-3- 2 formation, packing the back line and making the hosts work for every chance. There are few teams that enter matches as prepared from a tactical standpoint as the All Whites do. However, they just don’t have the speed to keep up with competition from outside Oceania. Besides, Russia side is not one of the elite ones in Europe — they are in this tournament by virtue of their status as the host nation — but they were able to run New Zealand ragged after a while. Mexico has considerably more speed and offensive flair, and this game could easily turn into a 5-0 or 6-0 affair, as could the Kiwis’ matchup with Portugal. Also, New Zealand will rely heavily, as always, on Wood (#9). He scored 27 goals in 44 matches for Leeds United last season (in the English Championship). I thought he would find more chances against Russia’s defense than he did, but Mexico will show some holes now and then, and he could surprise El Tri with a goal in this match.
Predicted Line-Up
Mexico
- Alfredo Talavera
- Diego Reyes
- Nestor Araujo
- Oswaldo Alanis
- Luis Reyes
- Marco Fabian
- Rafael Marquez
- Gio Dos Santos
- Javier Aquino
- Javier Hernandez
- Hirving Lozano
New Zealand
- Stefan Marinovic
- Tom Doyle
- Tommy Smith
- Andrew Durante
- Themi Tzimopoulos
- Michael Boxall
- Ryan Thomas
- Bill Tuiloma
- Michael McGlinchey
- Chris Wood
- Marco Rojas
Recent Matches
Mexico
- Tie – June 18th, 2017 vs. Portugal. Score: 2-2
- Tie – June 11th, 2017 vs. USA. Score: 1-1
- Won – June 8th, 2017 vs. Honduras. Score: 3-0
- Won – June 1st, 2017 vs. Ireland. Score: 3-1
- Won – May 27th, 2017 vs. Croatia. Score: 2-1
New Zealand
- Loss – June 17th, 2017 vs. Russia. Score: 2-0
- Loss – June 12th, 2017 vs. Belarus. Score: 1-0
- Loss – June 2nd, 2017 vs. Northern Ireland. Score: 1-0
- Won – March 29th, 2017 vs. Fiji. Score: 2-0
- Won – March 24th, 2017 vs. Fijo. Score: 2-0
