The South Americans giants Argentina face-off with Switzerland in their Last 16 match with hopes of making it to the Quarter Finals while Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Switzerland team will try to attain the same objective by beating the Alejandro Sabella’s and move one step closer to the World Cup dream. Coming to the lineups Manchester City star Sergio Aguero will miss the game due to an injury and Paris Saint Germain player Ezequiel Lavezzi is likely to replace the forward. The Swiss side though has no injury concerns and has a fully fit squad at disposal. Their attack will consist of Shaqiri, Drmic and Xhaka from left to right.
Top players to look out for:
Lionel Messi will of course be in the limelight and will be vital in his team’s attack against the stern Swiss defense. He has scored 4 goals in 3 games; he will hope to increase the tally and add a goal or two to it. Shaqiri, the hat trick hero for the Swiss against Honduras will attempt to mirror his previous performance yet again. He also became the 50th player to score a hat trick in the history of World Cups. Josep Drmic too will have lot riding on him as manager Hitzfeld will be optimistic that he would perform well at such a critical conjecture.
Teams head-to-head:
The two teams have faced each other six times with the South American nation winning 4 times and the remaining two games ended in draws.
Probable line-ups:
Argentina (4-3-3): Romero; Garay, Zabaleta, Rojo, Fernandez; Gago, Di Maria, Mascherano; Lavezzi, Higuain, Messi.
Switzerland (4-4-2): Benaglio; Lichtsteiner, Rodriguez, Djourou, Schaer; Inler, Xhaka, Shaqiri, Behrami; Mehmedi, Drmic.
Prediction:
Switzerland has never won against Argentina; their positive result against their current opponent is in the form of two draws. Going by the two team’s track record in the group stage, this will be an evenly paired fixture.
Final Score Prediction: Argentina 1 – 0 Switzerland.
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