Sporting Life writers pick their best bets for the World Cup

World Cup quarter-final: Sporting Life's best bets for the last-eight

16:35 · FRI July 06, 2018

The World Cup action kicks off again on Friday with the last-eight set to battle it out looking for a spot in the semi-finals.

It starts with Uruguay's clash with France, before Brazil meet Belgium in the later kick-off.

Gareth Southgate's England will be looking to make the last-four of a World Cup for the first time since 1990 when they meet Sweden.

This round of games comes to a conclusion in Sochi, where the hosts Russia will be aiming to continue their fairytale tournament so far as they take on Croatia.

Here, the Sporting Life team come up with their best bets for the games over the next couple of days.

Matt Brocklebank

Uruguay v France - Florian Thauvin to score last at 17/2

Florian Thauvin replaces Kylian Mbappe

It’s not often you go into a game knowing exactly how both sides are going to approach things but that’s surely the case here.

On one hand, we have a gritty, super-organised Uruguay side who will do everything in their power to frustrate and slow things down, and on the other a swashbuckling France outfit that looks to have got its mojo back after a relatively sluggish start to the tournament.

France were probably a little flattered by Argentina’s obvious flaws in the last round but they were worthy winners in the end and Kylian Mbappe emerged with huge credit. Uruguay will be keen to have him under wraps and it could be a long afternoon for the PSG man, but Didier Deschamps has loads of options to call upon and I like the look of Florian Thauvin catching the South Americans cold.

He’s barely featured for France so far but we’ve seen it before with players making names for themselves deep into tournaments and Thauvin could end up getting more than the two minutes he enjoyed from the bench in the round of 16.

The Marseille man scored an impressive 25 goals during the season and looks exactly the type of player to pop up late on to break Uruguayan hearts with extra-time looming.

Tom Carnduff

Sweden v England - Kieran Trippier 1+ Shots on Target at 5/1

Kieran Trippier on free-kick duty for England

This is also one of my recommended bets for Saturday's quarter-final action, and you can read the full preview here.

The Spurs man has been trusted with close-range free-kicks in Russia and he has come close on more than one occasion.

Should the Three Lions get themselves in this type of situation, you would imagine he will go for goal again and as long as it hits the target, whether a goal or a save, this would meet the criteria for the bet.

Given his involvement going forward, despite his starting position on the pitch, 5/1 seems a tad high for him to land at least one shot on target.

George Pitts

Brazil v Belgium – Philippe Coutinho to get Man of the Match at 6/1

Coutinho's wonderful effort gave Brazil the lead

Coutinho's has been on target for Brazil already this tournament

While many expected Neymar to be the man stealing the headlines for firing Brazil to the knockout stages, it has been Barcelona playmaker Philippe Coutinho so far.

It looks like Neymar feels the need to try too hard to make something happen, like he knows the weight of expectation on his shoulders. That, in turn, has helped Coutinho flourish in Tite’s side.

The Belgium clash should be a cagey affair and it could take a moment of quality to win the match. While Neymar would love it to be him, Coutinho has been the go-to man so far with two stunning goals in their opening two games in Russia.

The award is somewhat of a popularity contest and should Brazil triumph in Kazan, Coutinho should be key to that.

Paul Higham

Uruguay v France - Either team to win in extra time 11/2

Edinson Cavani celebrates with teammate Diego Godin after scoring Uruguay's third against Russia

I really fancy Uruguay in this one and think they're a cracking price at both 100/30 to win in 90 minutes and 13/8 just to qualify for the semi-finals. Edinson Cavani's injury is a potential spanner in the works though, as he was just hitting his stride in Russia.

As Matt says, you get exactly what it says on the tin with Uruguay, and they'll be fighting and scraping every inch of the way to shut the French down - and they're miles better equipped than Argentina to do it.

There's 16/1 on offer for them to win in extra time which is tempting me when going for the home run hit, but a more sensible way forward is the 11/2 on an extra time win for either side.

France do have a formidable line up after all and are blessed with superb attacking options, but you can both stop them and get under their skin, and there's no better side than Uruguay for both of those tactics.

I'd pick Uruguay if pressed but this could go either way, it should be tight though and looks like an extra time job to me.