Mexico vs. New Zealand 2017 Confederations Cup Soccer Betting Picks

For many of the 8 teams taking part, the Confederations Cup is a welcome break from the pressure of World Cup qualifying and soccer betting picks. Some of the teams use this tournament as an opportunity to try out some of their fringe players, while others are definitely in it to win it. One of the teams that falls into the latter category is Mexico, simply because they are currently expecting to win every game they play. Their fans, as well as the Mexican soccer federation, hold this team to an incredibly high, and probably unfair, standard, which means they cannot ever let up. A perfect example of this can be remember now with the win of Mexico at the Gold Cup some years ago. With Miguel Herrera as the man in charge at that time, and he receiving his marching orders two days after the win in the final. Everybody is talking about a fight between him and a reporter as the main cause of the firing, but they also continue reporting that the Mexican soccer federation is currently not feeling comfortable with the style of play during his reign. Mexico is a survivor of a late scare in their opening game of the tournament against Portugal, but should be firm favorites in their second game of the group stage, which comes against New Zealand. The Kiwis make well by keeping the score respectable against host nation Russia in their opening tilt, but they look to be in a little over their heads with this meeting. They have very little in the way of success versus Mexico in previous meetings, and with goal difference possibly a factor in this group, we can probably expect Mexico to try and pour on the offense in this one.

Here’s A Closer Look At The Mexico Vs New Zealand 2017 Confederations Cup Soccer Betting Picks

    When: Wednesday, June 21 at 1 PM EST Where: Olimpiyskiy Stadion, Sochi TV: FS1 Live Stream: FOX Sports GO FIFA Odds: Mexico -2 (-133)

Why bet on Mexico

The opener against Portugal is a bit of an odd game for Mexico. There are stages of the game where the players were looking to be in total control, but they twice continue seeing themselves behind, and might probably be in an even bigger trouble without the new VAR system not calling back an earlier goal for Portugal. The good news for this Mexican team is that they always show some real grit against the European champions, especially since it looked as though they were headed for defeat when giving up a late goal to go down 2-1. Hector Moreno came up with a big tying goal in injury time, which you have to believe puts Mexico in pole position to win this group. They should be able to easily handle New Zealand, and you also have to like their chances against Russia. There is a strong possibility that goal difference may be a factor here to make them favorites among the current soccer betting picks, so look for Mexico to go all out for goals, with Javier Hernandez leading the way. Mexico current amount of goals is 10 in their last 5 games, so they do have some firepower to work with.

Why bet on New Zealand

New Zealand came into this tournament with most soccer fans viewing them as nothing more than a sacrificial lamb in this group. They are certainly up against it, but put in a decent effort against Russia in the opening game. They were able to withstand an early barrage from the host nation, and managed to keep the score respectable, losing 2-0 in the end. The biggest problem for New Zealand was something that we expected heading into the Confederations Cup, and that is their inability to put the ball in the back of the net. They have Chris Wood, a 30-goal scorer for Leeds United this season, spearheading the attack, but there is no real quality in the build up from this team, which severely limits his scoring chances. Probably looking at another goose egg in this game.

Expert Soccer Betting Picks and Final Score Prediction

Going back to 2010, these two teams are currently on their 5th hook from several different occasions, and Mexico is the winner of all the 5. Mexico have outscored the Kiwis 16-4 in those meetings, and I expect they will tilt the goal difference even more in their favor after this one.

Mexico 4 New Zealand 0