Brazil vs Panama Predictions

Saturday’s international friendly action sees Brazil doing battle with Panama at Porto’s Estádio Do Dragão. Brazil are expected to win the match with no issues whatsoever but aren’t likely to hammer their opponents either.

The current international break offers another opportunity for Brazil to step up their preparations ahead of the forthcoming Copa America. Set to be contested on Brazilian soil, it’s a competition the Seleção are massive favourites to win and thus, they’ll want to go into it with plenty of momentum behind them.

Defeat at the hands of Belgium in last year’s World Cup was a real disappointment for Brazil, but they remain one of the world’s best national teams under the watch of Tite, who has transformed them into an extremely powerful force. What’s more, there’s been no sign of any hangover following defeat in Russia and the side have won all 6 of their friendlies since it, without even conceding a single goal.

Meanwhile, Panama were outclassed as expected at the World Cup, but even making it there was a historic achievement for the side and one they’ll do well to replicate in the coming years. Mastermind of said success Hernan Dario Gomez is no longer in charge of the team, having taking up the Ecuador job and that leaves room for Julio Dely Valdes’ third spell as Panama boss.

Confidence certainly cannot be high in Panama ranks coming into this game, given they’ve lost 5 of the 6 games they’ve contested since the World Cup. Going even further back, the team have now lost 9 of their last 10 matches, so it’s fair to say an upset doesn’t really look on the cards on Saturday.

Ultimately, the result here isn’t really in question and it’s more about the manner in which Brazil will win. Although they’re famed for swashbuckling attacking football, for all their wins under Tite, Brazil don’t really tend to hammer teams and the fact they’re without Neymar for this game gives Panama hope of at least keeping the scoreline respectable.

All things considered, we really like the looking of backing a Brazil win in combination with under 3.5 goals. Brazil have won 10 friendlies in a row without conceding a single goal and whilst they’re very likely to keep a clean sheet once again on Saturday, we don’t seem them plunging too many goals past a defensive Panama outfit, given they’ve also cleared the 3.5 goal line just once during that run. A low scoring Brazil win seems a likely outcome and we think they’ll run out 2-0 winners.