open menulivescore

Olympics Men's football Tuesday predictions: Argentina and Japan can finish group stage with a flourish
Copy icon

Phil Agius
Spotlight
Javier Mascherano's Argentina bounced back from their opening setback and now sit top of their group
Javier Mascherano's Argentina bounced back from their opening setback and now sit top of their group

- All 16 teams are in action in the third and final round of Group matches on Tuesday
- Recommended bets:
-
Argentina to beat Ukraine and both teams to score
-
Japan to beat Israel

Japan and Spain have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the Olympic football tournament with hosts France looking likely to join them after also winning their first two group games, but Uzbekistan are the only team already eliminated after two defeats in Group C.

We have picked out two bets from Tuesday's slate of fixtures.

Ukraine vs Argentina (Tuesday, 4pm)

The stats

Ukraine's opening defeat by Iraq was their only loss in their last nine matches.

Both teams have scored in all four Group B matches.

Argentina have conceded in added time at the end of the first half in both of their games so far.

Prediction

Ukraine's performances at the Olympics have been better than their record of three points from two games suggests as they were unlucky to lose their first match against Iraq, losing 2-1 despite winning the shot count 11-5 and racking up 3.02 in expected goals. 

They got back on track with a late winner to beat Morocco 2-1 and while they should find group favourites Argentina just too strong for them in Lyon on Tuesday, they are capable of getting on the scoresheet in a defeat.

Argentina's opening defeat by Morocco grabbed all the headlines as a late equaliser was ruled out after a lengthy delay, but they righted the ship with a 3-1 win over Iraq and should get the victory they need to qualify.

Having conceded against both Iraq and Morocco, Javier Mascherano's side remain vulnerable defensively and both teams should score and concede for the third consecutive game.

Israel vs Japan (Tuesday, 8pm)

The stats

Go Oiwa's Japan have scored six goals and conceded none and should be confident of completing a perfect group campaign
Go Oiwa's Japan have scored six goals and conceded none and should be confident of completing a perfect group campaign

Japan are the highest-scoring team in the tournament with six goals in two games.

Japan are one of only three nations yet to concede a goal in the competition.

Four of the five goals Israel have conceded have come in the second half.

Prediction

Japan look set to take top spot in Group D whatever the result of their final match against Israel but their opponents have looked poor so far in the tournament and Japan are capable of advancing with a perfect record.

Japan won by a more restrained margin of 1-0 against Mali after thrashing Paraguay 5-0, although the South American team played most of the match with only 10 men.

Israel fared worse than Japan against their common opponents in both group games, drawing 1-1 with Mali and losing 4-2 to Paraguay and could come off second-best again.

LiveScore logo

LiveScore: actualizaciones deportivas en vivo

Resultados de fútbol y noticias deportivas

App storeGoogle play