World Cup 2014 – Dugout Discussion – Matchday One, Day Four

With three World Cup matches on offer this evening, Fantasy managers have plenty to look forward to. First up, Switzerland take on Ecuador in the 5pm kick-off, with Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side looking to maintain the form that saw them top their qualifying group with an unbeaten record over 10 matches:

Switzerland: Benaglio: Lichtsteiner, Von Bergen, Djourou, Rodriguez: Inler, Behrami; Shaqiri, Xhaka, Stocker; Drmic

Ecuador: Dominguez; Paredes, Guagua, Erazo, W Ayovi; A Valencia, Noboa, Gruezo, Montero; Caicedo, E Valencia

For Switzerland, the highly-rated young left-back Ricardo Rodriguez will add plenty of attacking threat from the back, whilst the likes of Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri are tasked with supplying the creativity behind Josip Drmic, who notched 17 times in 30 starts for German side Nurnberg in 2013/14. The one surprisde from Hitzfeld’s line-up is his decision to opt for Johan Djourou ahead of Fabian Schar in central defence.

Ecuador will be looking for front two Enner Valencia and Felipe Caicedo to grab the goals. The latter was top scorer in qualifying with seven strikes, whilst elsewhere in Reinaldo Rueda’s 4-4-2, Jefferson Montero and United’s Antonio Valencia will also be hoping to make an impact on the flanks.

After that, France square up to Honduras in the other Group E game at 9pm. Despite losing Franck Ribery to injury, Les Bleus are highly-fancied in this one – they’ve won four and drawn one of their last five friendlies, conceding just a single goal in the process. Karim Benzema, Olivier Giroud, Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann and Mathieu Valbuena owners have every reason for optimism as Didier Deschamps’ side look to get off to a winning start before a midweek meet with the Swiss.

Our late night viewing sees Group F get underway with a clash of the favourites, as Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina go head-to-head. Lionel Messi will surely be sporting the armband for a number of managers for the 11pm kick-off, though there’s no shortage of options on our radars for this clash, with Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria, Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic all looking to catch our attentions before the schedule eases considerably for both sides.