Football betting tips Tokyo 2020: Olympics men's football best bets
Tom Carnduff takes a look through Sunday's Olympic football action and picks out his best bets from across the fixtures.
Tokyo 2020 betting tips: Men's football
1pt Honduras to beat New Zealand at 8/5 (Mansion Bet)
1pt Over 1.5 first-half goals in Brazil v Ivory Coast at 11/8 (Sky Bet)
1pt Germany (-1 handicap) to beat Saudi Arabia at Evens (Sky Bet)
Saudi Arabia v Germany
- Kick-off time: 12:30 BST, Sunday
Germany were perhaps stunned by Brazil's attack during the first-half of their opener but they did grow into the game and could take positives from the second-half - which they won by a 2-1 scoreline. This is, after all, a side containing players who recently won the UEFA Euro Under-21 Championship.
They've been able to add to that with Bundesliga talents a couple of years older and in Stefan Kuntz they have a manager who is clearly talented in both player development and securing results. The second-half showing against Brazil can kickstart their tournament.
It's unsurprising that Germany are just 3/10 to win but the value can be found in taking GERMANY TO WIN WITH A -1 HANDICAP at even money. While the second-half was a positive, Kuntz's words after the game demonstrated how disappointed he was and they will have been working on those issues.
The fact is that Saudi Arabia are 25/1 outsiders to win the group - 500/1 to win the gold medal - and Germany know that they simply have to win this game if they are to spend the next couple of weeks in Japan. It's also an opportunity to breakeven on their goal difference.
Brazil v Ivory Coast
- Kick-off time: 09:30 BST, Sunday
Brazil kicked off their Olympics campaign in style with an entertaining 4-2 victory over Germany - Richarlison's hat-trick giving them a dominant first-half lead but it would have been better had Matheus Cunha converted a penalty.
That momentum can continue as they take on the Ivory Coast, who also picked up three points in their opener with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia. In both of those games, there were at least two goals in the first-half and backing OVER 1.5 FIRST-HALF GOALS is the best bet here.
Brazil are in a great position to be the tournament's top scorers with the likes of Richarlison, Cunha and Antony leading their attack. Combine that with options such as Malcom and Leverkusen's Paulinho on the bench and it's easy to see why goals should be a common theme throughout their games.
With Over 2.5 Goals priced at a short 8/15, it's worth betting on two of those to come before the break at an odds-against price.
New Zealand v Honduras
- Kick-off time: 09:00 BST, Sunday
These two were involved in games that could be described as unfair results during the opening round. New Zealand beat South Korea 1-0 despite having two shots to their opponent's 12; Honduras were incredibly unlucky to lose 1-0 to a Romania side that didn't even have a shot on target.
Right-back Elvin Oliva was the one who gave Romania victory but Honduras can take the positives heading into this game with the bookmakers making them favourites. At a best price of 8/5, we're taking HONDURAS TO BEAT NEW ZEALAND in the early game.
They were outsiders against Romania - and while the result ultimately didn't go their way - they should have had so much more from the game. With 17 shots and five on target, the 1-0 scoreline doesn't tell the full story.
New Zealand will go through the tournament as outsiders and beat South Korea at a pre-match price of 6/1. Again, while that ultimately proved a winner, the two shots they registered across 90 minutes shows why they were given such big odds.
Odds correct at 1000 BST (23/07/21)
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