Daily World Cup Tips & Predictions – Saturday, 13th June

A vital opening game for both sides to kickoff a competitive Group D.  

Winners of only one of their eight World Cup openers, history is hardly on the side of Paraguay, while the one-sided home crowd in Los Angeles figures to make this a tough assignment against the USA. 

Rewind back nearly 12 months, and the United States defeated Paraguay in a friendly by only a goal, and this one figures to be a similar low-scoring affair with both sides built around stout defence down back. 

Tim Ream, Miles Robinson and Mark McKenzie are all prominent defenders for the USA, while Paraguay’s back line is led by Sunderland centre-back Omar Alderete and captain Gustavo Gomez.  

With the weight of expectations on their back, the USA should be winning, but there’s value in backing Under 2.5 goals at the same time. 

As one of the host nations, you can take the slight value on offer for Canada and feel pretty good about it. 

Expected to advance past the Group Stage, the Canadians kick off the tournament slightly shorthanded with Alphonso Davies unlikely to play through a hamstring injury, but that hasn’t bothered them in the past with the captain missing a handful of games on the international stage.  

Bosnia & Herzegovina arrive to the World Cup for the first time since 2014, having held their own at the penalty spot against the likes of Italy and Wales recently in the qualifiers. Make no mistake though, they are an experienced team who have been stingy down back, conceding a goal or fewer in their last six outings. 

Playing in front of their home fans in Toronto – a typically passionate sporting city – is a huge advantage for the hosts, but their World Cup ventures have been anything but fruitful in years past. The Canadians have been in good form on the international stage all year, but have still only scored two goals at the World Cup. 

With that in mind, some lockdown play down back from the Zmajevi could have this one ending in a surprise draw.