swiss won't bare all, but will it be brazilian?

​It's reported that Tite is looking to remedy the slow turnovers from defence to attack by bringing the creativity and dribbling ability of Philippe Coutinho into midfield instead of Manchester City's Fernandinho. Regular Premier League viewers need not worry as Casemiro, and to an extent, Paulinho, can do a fine job of breaking up play and providing defensive solidarity.

Moreover, this will mean William would play on the right of the forward three. His directness & goal threat give me even greater confidence on Brazil getting the job done and maybe with a two goal difference.

We've not even mentioned Neymar, the third best player in the world, and Gabriel Jesus, who looks to be a cucumber-cool youngster with a deadly eye for goal.

My worry would be that Marcelo doesn't pretend to try and defend at left back, and Thiago Silva is past his best. His centre-half partner, Miranda, isn't terrible, but Marquinhos of PSG is favoured over the Inter Milan stopper by many in Brazilian media.

Switzlerand are well-drilled, as shown by their 1-1 draw with Spain in the recent friendly. With 11 clean sheets in their last 15 games, it would be unlikely that Brazil will absolutely tank them. Though it must be said, this aforementioned sample size includes friendlies against weak opposition (Greece, Panama and Japan) as per the Swiss FA's strategy to protect their FIFA ranking before draws are made for group pools.

We'd imagine that they play with two holding midfielders today: Behrami and Xhaka - another one of those players who plays much better for country than club. This points to a tactic of trying to frustrate the opposition and ensuring that no matter what, a heavy defeat does not occur. Goal difference could end up being vital in this group, especially if Brazil justify 1-x-2 favouritism and pick up 3 victories.

Shaqiri is the creative force for Switzerland and moments of magic like that against Poland in Euro 2016 are always possible. With the most international goals in the squad (20),  he'll have to do much on his own though as he may feel familiar in having frustrations at the lack of quality to match his ability. Haris Seferovic will lead the line, and he has had a pretty poor season at Benfica, after initially getting a few goals after his move. Steven Zuber who will probably play on the left, has a goal in him, and scored twice during seven qualifiers.

Manager Petkovic, who has been at the helm for 35 games, has never presided over a defeat bigger than 2-0. That would put me off backing Brazil on anything bigger than -1.5 on the Asian Handicap at 2.35.

A slightly more conservative option is siding with Brazil -1.25 goals, at 2.07 with Bet365. With a 3 point stake, we'll see a half-loss if Brazil win by just one goal, or do not win the game. If Brazil win by two goals or more, we'll double our money.