Inter Miami vs Palmeiras Bet Builder Tips, Best Bets, Stats, Predictions

Group A of the FIFA Club World Cup closes in the early hours of Tuesday morning where the conspiracy theorists will fancy the draw between Inter Miami and Palmeiras.

That is the result which sees both teams through to the knockout stage so it certainly can’t be ruled out so for a bet builder we’ll go down some stat lines rather than match outcomes and game states.

The first player to focus on is the soon to be Chelsea attacker Estevao, who has shone in the first two matches for Palmeiras, albeit without scoring.

We’re not looking for him to score here though. We just want three shots from him and when you consider that he fired two in the 0-0 draw with Porto and three in the 2-0 win over Al Ahli, that total is perfectly achievable.

Estevao averages 2.04 shots per 90 minutes in the Serie A in Brazil this term and with the Miami defence hugely susceptible to pace and counterattacks an extra shot feels well within the range of the teenager.

Moving across to the Inter Miami side and one man who has impressed in the competition is the attacking midfielder Tadeo Allende.

He has had a shot on target in both of his matches in this tournament, scoring with the one that he had against Porto last time out and while the opposition defence focuses on ensuring Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez contribute as little to the game as possible, they can be guilty of forgetting about Allende.

The Argentine midfielder averages 2.29 shots per 90 in the MLS this season of which he puts an average of 0.94 on target per 90 in that competition so we’re only really looking for near enough an average performance for him to hit the target here.

He is given the freedom to get in and around the box and given half the chance he isn’t afraid to let fly so him to have a shot on target looks a safe second leg to the bet builder.

Keeping with the Inter Miami side, one player who could have his work cut out defensively is Tomas Aviles. He will start as a centre-back but is often drawn wide defensively when Miami push their full-backs up and get caught in transition.

Aviles to commit two fouls in that scenario is of interest. While there is a good chance that this match fizzles out into a tame draw the longer it goes on, it should be competitive in the early stages as both teams look to fine tune things ahead of a potential knockout clash.

Aviles is an aggressive defender and he has already committed two fouls in the match against Al Ahly and given that he sat out the majority of the game against Porto he is likely to come back into the side here.

It wouldn’t be the first time an Argentine has gone into some challenges against a Brazilian team with a little more strength than usual and the 21-year-old has been known to mistime challenges.

He already has a red card to his name in the MLS this season and although he only averages 1.04 fouls per 90 in that competition, we have to remember that teams are often reluctant to attack Miami in that through fear of leaving themselves exposed.

Palmeiras will be confident enough to play on the front foot initially here and therefore two fouls is well within the range of the central defender.

The final leg of the bet builder takes our attention back to Palmeiras where Roberto Rios to commit two or more fouls very much appeals.

He has been wiping out opponents at will in this competition so far and you would imagine that his primary role in this one is to ensure that Lionel Messi isn’t a factor in the game from open play.

Rios committed four fouls against Porto in the opening game for the Brazilians and he managed to be pulled up for five of them in the latest match against Al Ahly so European referee Szymon Marciniak will certainly have his eye on the Colombian.

Those numbers are no surprise because Rios averages 2.76 fouls per 90 in the Serie A competition in Brazil so for him to commit two more here doesn’t even require an average tally.

With Messi, Luis Suarez, Allende and Segovia in his area of the pitch take the Colombian to add two more fouls to his tally here.