USA v Algeria, Wednesday 23rd June, 3pm
Could Algeria turn out to be the dark horses (or camels) of Group C? Let’s be honest, the supposed E-A-S-Y section that is Group C has instead proved that nothing is certain in football and this match could be hotly-contested between the teams in Pretoria on Wednesday afternoon. The Desert Foxes are 4/1 (Blue Square) to qualify for the last sixteen and they might have beaten England on Friday night with a little more composure in the opposition penalty area.
On the match betting market, the USA are clearly odds-on favourites, with bet365 offering a best price 10/11 that Bob Bradley’s team make sure of the points. But can the Yanks overcome the disappointment felt on Friday afternoon when, after clawing back to 2-2 against Slovenia, they had a goal disallowed for reasons only known to the Malian referee? It will be interesting to see how the Algerians cope with the powerful Jozy Altidore (5/1 Paddy Power), with captain Landon Donovan (6/1 Boylesports) showing himself to be a goalscoring threat.
Nevertheless, the Algerian team have proved to be far from whipping boys in Group C and if they could just look a little sharper in the box, then maybe Sky Bet’s odds of 7/2 can be more than sniffed at. In deciding matches, where the winners can take all (well a match against Germany anyway), will there be an early goal? William Hill think not, offering odds of 6/1 that the net will be found in the first 15 minutes – that seems to be fairly generous to us.
