Portugal and Vietnam are both making their World Cup debuts and the Group E rivals will be targeting a first victory at the finals when they meet in Hamilton at 8.30am on Thursday 27 July.

Team news

Portugal’s attacking midfielder Kika Nazareth is pushing for a start after her substitute appearance against the Netherlands. Jessica Silva and Diana Silva should retain their places up front.

Young forward Ngan Thi Van Su is hoping for a place in the Vietnam starting line-up but coach Mai Duc Chung is likely to stick with the 5-4-1 formation he employed against the USA.

Portugal to win & under 3.5 total goals @ 8/11

Both Portugal and Vietnam were thrown in at the deep end in their first World Cup fixtures as they faced the Netherlands and the USA, the finalists at the 2019 tournament.

It was no surprise to see both underdogs beaten but Portugal can take heart from their performance in a 1-0 defeat to the Dutch and they also showed their defensive fortitude by holding England to a 0-0 draw in the European champions’ final pre-World Cup friendly.

Francisco Neto’s side are not prolific goalscorers and they needed a 90th-minute penalty to see off Cameroon 2-1 in last year’s World Cup playoff final.

They are strong favourites to defeat a Vietnam side who failed to register a shot at goal in their 3-0 defeat to the USA although keeping the scoreline respectable was the priority against the world champions.

Vietnam are unlikely to roll over in their second match so backing Portugal to win and under 3.5 goals is the way to go with a 2-0 Portugal victory the standout correct-score bet at 4/1.

#PickYourPunt – over 1.5 total goals, over 8.5 total goals & over 29.5 total booking points @ 10/3

Portugal failed to trouble the scorers in their friendly against England or Group E opener against the Netherlands but 14 of their last 17 internationals have featured at least two goals and they should create chances against section outsiders Vietnam.

The second part of our #PickYourPunt bet is nine or more corners in the match and the USA won nine flag-kicks on their own in Vietnam’s opening game.

After losing their first group fixtures, both Portugal and Vietnam will be feeling the heat on matchday two so 30 or more booking points looks a solid bet with ten points for a yellow card and 25 for a red.

Both the USA and Vietnam had a player cautioned on Saturday while Portugal’s Diana Gomes and Jessica Silva were booked against the Netherlands, whose experienced midfielder Danielle van de Donk was also shown a yellow card.