Costa Rica vs. Germany Betting Tips: Back with Musiala to provide an assist

Costa Rica take on Germany as Group E comes to a close. Our man Anthony Eadson is on hand to preview the game and provide us with his best bets.

Germany will not have envisioned going into the final group game sitting bottom of the table with just one point. Hansi Flick’s side know that they must win this game and still hope that Spain will see off Japan to secure their place in the knockout stages.

After the humiliation of their defeat to the Japanese in their opening fixture, German supporters will have feared the worst after Alvaro Morata put Spain ahead on Sunday. However, Werder Bremen striker Niclas Fullkrug rescued a point in the 83rd minute and the bookmakers still fancy them to make the last-16 with just 1/5 on show with bet365 for them to do so.

• World Cup Winner odds

Costa Rica were thumped 7-0 by Spain in their first game at the World Cup in Qatar but showed real heart to bounce back and see off Japan 1-0 thanks to an 81st minute goal from Keysher Fuller. A win for Luis Fernando Suarez’s side would see them through to the knockout stages for only the third time in their history and a draw would also be sufficient if Spain manage to beat Japan.

Taking a look at the match odds and it’s no surprise to see Germany as the odds-on favorites to collect the three points, priced at just 1/9 with most firms, implying a 90% chance of victory. The draw is available at 17/2, with 20/1 on show for a famous win for the Costa Ricans.

Both of our selections on Thursday are with Unibet who have a new customer offer where you can receive money back as a bonus up to £40 if your first bet loses. 

The first of our picks comes from the anytime assist market where we are siding with Germany’s Jamal Musiala. It’s been a fantastic season for the 19-year-old at club level with Bayern Munich scoring 9 goals and providing six assists in just 12 Bundesliga starts since the start of the campaign.

One of the most exciting players in this German side who looks set to be a part of the furniture for the next decade, Musiala provided the assist for Niclas Fullkrug’s equaliser against Spain and in a game where Germany could potentially rack up the goals against Costa Rica he could well add to that tally. Betfair and Paddy Power have this selection priced odds-on at 10/11 we think this looks a nice bit of value with Unibet out at 19/10. 

We’ve also picked out a Bet Builder double with Unibet consisting of Ilkay Gundogan to record Over 0.5 shots on target and Bryan Oviedo to be carded. The Manchester City midfielder is on penalty duty for Die Mannschaft, and in the game with Japan he let off five shots with three of those hitting the target. With Costa Rica sat deep it could lead to plenty of shots from distance from the likes of Ilkay Gundogan and Joshua Kimmich.

• World Cup Betting Offers

We’ve also picked out a player to be carded who we like in the form of Costa Rica’s Bryan Oviedo. A man who spent many of his years at Everton and in his final season on Merseyside he was booked in 50% of his Premier League appearances. 

He then made the switch to Sunderland and was shown nine yellows in 31 league appearances, and with Costa Rica needing a result here to stand any chance of making it out of the group, it would be no surprise to see Oviedo putting his body on the line. Combining these two picks with Gundogan pays 9/1 with Unibet compared to just 7/2 over at Betfair and Paddy Power.