International Tips: Portugal to be boring until the break

Cristiano Ronaldo is tipped to feature against Republic of Ireland

Ghana face South Korea and Republic of Ireland meet Portugal in the final two pre-World Cup friendlies...

Ghana v South Korea
Tuesday, 00:00

Match Odds: Ghana 2.568/5, South Korea 3.39/4, The Draw 3.1511/5

Ghana were one of the most captivating teams at the last World Cup and though they bring another fairly youthful line-up to Brazil, they appear to have lost a little joie de vivre since. That has been particularly noticeable in 2014, where their nine matches have produced a mere eight goals.

Every single contest positioned itself south of the under-2.5-goal divide, while eight evaded 1.5 too and two finished goalless. As four of South Korea's five fixtures in 2014 have also delivered two goals or less, under 2.5 goals is priced at an understandably slim 1.511/2.

There are two more enticing avenues to explore along a similar theme though. One is opposing both teams to score at 1.758/11, because both goalkeepers have been beaten in none of South Korea's last five games and none of Ghana's last six.

The other is to back both sides to be leading 1-0 at the interval. Eight of Ghana's last 13 encounters have provided exactly one first-half goal, as have each of South Korea's last three. The Black Stars are 4.94/1 to be 1-0 up at the break, while their adversaries in Miami are 5.95/1.

Recommended Bet: Back Both Teams to Score? No @ 1.758/11

Republic of Ireland v Portugal
Wednesday, 00:45
Live on Premier Sports

Match Odds: Republic of Ireland 5.39/2, Portugal 1.875/6, The Draw 3.55/2

It isn't the result of this collision in New York that Portuguese onlookers and their Group G rivals will be most bothered by, but whether Cristiano Ronaldo makes it onto the pitch for the first time since the Champions League final, and if he is any sharper than he was on that occasion.

Pepe, a colleague of Ronaldo for club and country, has gone even longer without playing and is likely to miss out again in another match rated an under-2.5-goals banker at 1.558/15. Republic of Ireland and Portugal have competed twice each since May 31, with the six hours of football serving up just three goals.

Both of those Portugal clashes - and four of their last five dating back to the World Cup play-off double header with Sweden - have been goalless at the interval, as have four of their last five tangles with the Boys in Green.

None of the nations' past seven head-to-heads, nor any of Republic of Ireland's six outings since Martin O'Neill's appointment, have yielded more than one first-half goal, so if a punt on a 0-0 half-time scoreline falls short, it should do so by the slenderest of margins.

Best Bet: Back a 0-0 half-time score @ 2.526/4