Wednesday's International Football Tips: Back an 8/5 fast start for England and 15/8 Portugal to win

Argentina v Iceland Tip - Holders to breeze past Iceland

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Wednesday 10 June 02:00 kick-off

Champions Argentina are 9/110.00 to win the World Cup and become just the third team to successfully defend their title. They couldn't be in better form with six straight friendly wins, one goal conceded and just one defeat in 14 in all competitions.

Iceland shouldn't offer too much resistance with just one win in nine, against Azerbaijan, and, flying in from Tokyo to Alabama for their last game of the season, they can be excused for not having 100% motivation.

Given that, and Argentina's recent form, it should be a routine victory for the holders. They may pull their punches late on in terms of piling the goals up, so just back them to win and keep another clean sheet.

Iraq v Venezuela Tip - Back World Cup-bound Iraq

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Wednesday 10 June 02:00 kick-off

Think Iraq v Venezuela is not for you? Think again, this is exactly what the World Cup is all about. Iraq have qualified after beating Bolivia in a play-off, but are 12/53.40 underdogs against Venezuela who won't be involved this summer.

Iraq managed to scrape a 1-1 with Spain last time out despite obviously being dominated so they'll be on a high, while Venezuela lost to Turkey having previously lost on penalties to Uzbekistan in the FIFA Series.

So will Iraq be taking it easy with the World Cup about to kick-off, or will Venezuela just go through the motions as they wind down the season? We suspect the latter, but let's hope Iraq win this one.

Portugal v Nigeria Tip - Back 15/82.88 home win with goals

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Wednesday 10 June 20:45 kick-off
Live on Amazon Prime Video

Only Portugal could play a friendly in which two red cards are shown but both sides had a man sent off as they beat Chile 2-1 to stretch their unbeaten home run to nine games (W8 D1).

Nigeria have been busy recently, this is their fourth friendly of the summer window so tiredness may be a factor, but they're in decent form and haven't lost a game in 90 minutes in 12 outings.

Roberto Martinez will be taking this one seriously as it's Portugal's first game against an African side since Morocco beat them at the last World Cup. Portugal have scored 2+ goals in eight of nine at home, but they've also only kept one clean sheet in seven of eight on home soil.

England v Costa Rica Tip - Back an 8/52.60 England fast start

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Wednesday 10 June 21:00 kick-off
Live on ITV1 & ITVX

From Tampa to Orlando for England and another hot and sticky tune-up for Thomas Tuchel, who's sure to use almost all of his players again against Costa Rica. The Three Lions are 1/81.12 favourites but the two-team tactic only yielded a 1-0 win over New Zeland so was hardly convincing.

Their friendly form is poor too, with just three wins in nine (D2 L4), so I actually wouldn't write off Costa Rica getting something here - they're not at the World Cup this summer but have made five of the previous six, and they're unbeaten in 90 minutes in four internationals in the United States.

Costa Rica have lost three straight games against sides playing in this World Cup, they've failed to score against England in two previous attempts and have conceded at least twice in their last five consecutive friendlies. Only one of England's last nine saw both teams score so an England win to nil at 8/151.53 looks assured.

England should really fill their boots, with Costa Rica conceding 10 in the last three, with six of the eight allowed in the last two outings coming in the first half. If Tuchel starts with something like approaching his first choice, including Harry Kane, then backing a fruitful first half could be the best route to some value.

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