Brazil needs to step up their game in their second group stage game against minnows Haiti if they want to progress to the Round of 16. The two sides will play this all-important fixture on 20th June at the Philadelphia Stadium.
For the game, here we present our preview and prediction.
The most successful team in World Cup history has underperformed for the last few editions. Injuries have denied Brazil from having a stronger squad at their disposal this time but they still possess a decent enough squad to go deep in the tournament. As for their opponents, Haiti qualified for the World Cup after a gap of 52 long years and are the second lowest ranked team in the competition.
Brazil’s opening game was against a very tough Morocco side which ended in a 1-1 draw. Vinicius Junior and Ismail Sabari were the goal scorers for their respective teams. Morocco was the far better side throughout the game and took the attack to Brazil from the first whistle. Brazil only tried to up the ante in the closing stages which could have cost them dearly if not for their goalkeeper Alisson Becker making a late double save.
Haiti played their opening game against Scotland who won the game narrowly courtesy of a John McGinn goal. However, it was a nervy last 20 minutes as Haiti piled on the pressure. Haiti also had a superior expected goals (xG) stats of 1.21 to Scotland’s 1.04 and gave a good account of themselves.
Brazil avoided embarrassment against a strong Moroccan side and barely earned a point thanks to individual brilliance from Vinicius Jr. and cannot take Haiti for granted. Neymar Jr. has been ruled out for this game as well as Ancelotti’s decision of selecting an injury-prone player for the World Cup looking more driven by emotions rather than realism. Haiti has some decent attacking players, one of them being Jean-Ricner Bellegarde who is their creative force and can cause trouble to the Brazilian defence.
Haiti will not be as open in their approach against Brazil as they were in the opening game and will most likely sit deep in defence. Ancelotti will need to find a way to breach their backline and get the much-needed three points. Although Brazil was sub-par against Morocco, we believe they possess too much talent not to win this one – we predict a comfortable victory for the Selecão.
Score Prediction: Brazil 2-0 Haiti
Venue: The Philadelphia Stadium, Philadelphia, USA
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