Portugal vs. Germany Predictions: Jota to score anytime

A big game for Germany this Saturday lunchtime as they need a result against Portugal. Neil Monnery is unsure if they can get it but has a couple of bets to play...

Location: Munich, Germany

Date: Saturday, June 19.

Kick Off Time: 12PM ET

TV: ESPN

The game of the day on Saturday sees Germany needing a result against Portugal. The home side looked pretty toothless up front against France in the week and that 1-0 reversal means that defeat here would put them in extreme difficulty with regards to playing beyond the group stages.

For Portugal, on paper it all looks good. A 3-0 win against Hungary was a strong start to their Euro 2020 campaign but all three goals came in the final few minutes.

Diogo Jota had several good chances to open the scoring but the Liverpool frontman failed to hit the back of the net. Getting in those positions though was encouraging and may be a little hint towards one of my picks down at the bottom of the article.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice including one from the penalty spot. He’s still at worse near the top of his game so Germany will have to watch him extremely closely. Seeing the way the French broke on Joachim Low’s side several times with speed and precision, it is a good blueprint for how to break his side down.

My worry with Germany even before the tournament was where were the goals coming from? I liked the return of Thomas Muller to the squad and Kai Havertz is an exciting player but do I think Serge Gnabry and Timo Werner are going to do enough in front of goal? I do not.

I’m a little bit surprised that Germany are considerable favorites on the Moneyline. They only had one shot on target in that France game and didn’t look like creating too much. I know Portugal weren’t that impressive against Hungary but I like their attacking options to open up the German defense.

On the Moneyline I’m not interested in Germany so I am torn between the Portugal win (+225) and the tie (+240). As I’m struggling to make my mind up I’m going to bypass this market.

Picks: I do like Diogo Jota to score anytime. This is at +350 with BetMGM, Borgata and Resorts Casino in NJ. He got in some tremendous positions against Hungary and showed his finishing ability at club level.

Both teams to Score is -120 with Resorts Casino and I do like that market. I know I’ve ragged on Germany’s attacking ability but they need some sort of positive result so will have to come out and play.