Portugal v North Korea

Shockingly North Korea have scored more goals than Portugal so far in the World Cup 2010 going into this game but Portugal will fancy themselves for three points. North Korea frustrated Brazil in their opening match and they will look to do the same here, Portugal will look to their best player Cristiano Ronaldo for inspiration and they might need it if North Korea are as good in this game as they were against Brazil.

Portugal v North Korea Match Odds

Match betting is a massively popular market and the first market most punters choose to look at as your decision in this market is likely to impact all other bets you place on the game.

BACK PORTUGAL TO BEAT NORTH KOREA

Portugal are pretty short for this match and we don't expect them to win by as big a margin as many will expect, but they do remain the most likely winners of the match so are the best bet to do so. North Korea emerged with great credit after being beaten just 2-1 by Brazil and they will try to make it even harder for Portugal to break them down, so expect just a narrow win for Portugal.

Portugal v North Korea Asian Handicap Odds

The Asian Handicap is an interesting bet as it usually gives one team a lead that should be enough to cancel out any superiority the favourites for the game have.

BACK NORTH KOREA +1.25

The best bets in the asian handicap normamly come when one team look to be majorly overrated or underrated and it looks as though Portugal's chances, and especially their chances of scoring a few goals, have been overrated in this game. North Korea are well capable of winning the game with a 1,25 goal head start and they are a nice price to do so in this market.

Portugal v North Korea Goals Odds

Take a look at recent results for the two sides to help decide what the best bets are in the over/under betting and also the correct score market.

Portugal Recent Competitive Results

North Korea Recent Competitive Results

BACK PORTUGAL 1-0 AND UNDER 2.5 GOALS

Neither of these sides find goals particularly easy to come by and judging by the first game evidence it is actually North Korea who have the biggest threat. Both sides have very tight defences, North Korea conceded just three goals in their final six games in qualifying and showed agaisnt Brazil how stubborn they can be whilst Portugal have not conceded a goal in six competitive matches now. Under 2.5 goals looks very likely and Portugal's extra class means they might edge this just 1-0.

Portugal v North Korea Player Odds

Some of the most fun markets to bet on are the player markets, such as first goalscorer and anytime goalscorer. They are usually relatively big odds and can give plenty of reward if you pick correctly.

Portugal v North Korea Team News

Portugal could really struggle in this match if they were to miss Cristiano Ronaldo and Simao as they would surely start to struggle to create chances. Fortunately for the Portuguese both players are expected to be fit for this match and Portugal could even name an unchanged team.

BACK CRISTIANO RONALDO TO SCORE FIRST AGAINST NORTH KOREA

Most of Portugal's goals in their World Cup qualifying campaign didn't come from Cristiano Ronaldo as you would expect, they actually came from Simao, he finished as their top scorer with four. This is the sort of game where North Korea will keep ten men behind the ball so the first goal could have to come from a moment of brilliance which would make Cristiano Ronaldo a good bet. We should just forget his poor goalscoring record in qualifying and back the Real Madrid forward to score first.

Portugal v North Korea Half Time Odds

The latest tips that include the half time result in them, some of the most popular bets here are half time result and half time/full time.

BACK DRAW / PORTUGAL IN THE HALF TIME / FULL TIME BETTING

North Korea kept Brazil quiet until the second half and Brazil look better goalscorers than Portugal so it should pay to go for a slight surprise by backing a draw at half time. Over the 90 minutes Portugal should be able to win the match so the best bet from the half time markets looks to be a draw at half time and win for Portugal by full time.

Portugal v North Korea Best Bet

BACK UNDER 2.5 GOALS

Both teams have very tight defences and both teams struggle to score goals, certainly in volume, and since Portugal are strongly fancied for this match it means the odds on under 2.5 goals are very generous, as the bookies will be expecting Portugal to maybe score three goals themselves. Under 2.5 goals looks a really good value bet.