Portugal have opened their World Cup with two victories against Ghana and Uruguay and a loss to South Korea, and apart from their clean sheet against La Celeste, they have conceded twice in their other two matches. Their first match would see them concede nine shots, three on target, followed up by 11 against Uruguay, three on target, before conceding 13 shots to South Korea, six on target.

Portugal’s first-place finish belied their defensive frailties and vulnerabilities in defending set-pieces, but I think Switzerland could give them a run for their money and exploit the Seleção’s leaky backline. With Xherdan Shaqiri, Breel Embolo and Ruben Vargas combining in the final third, the Swiss should be good for at least 3 on target, with a shot at 4+ at 2.0 for the more ambitious punters.

Granit Xhaka was a pillar of strength in a tense and fraught game against Serbia. He kept a cool head and dealt with the attempts of Serbia’s players to get a reaction from him by simply playing his football and leading his team to victory. The engine in the Swiss midfield battled hard, distributed the ball well and played an important role in the victory. There is no question that he will be key if Switzerland are to advance beyond Portugal in the Last 16 stage.

In the match against Serbia, Xhaka registered three shots as he tried to replicate his goal against the same opponents four years earlier. The midfielder isn’t shy to shoot, he also had two attempts on goal against Cameroon earlier in the group. It makes it four out of seven games this year that Xhaka has at least attempted one shot, it isn’t something he can normally resist. Two of the games he didn’t have a shot at all were against Spain and Brazil sides that controlled possession as Switzerland mostly defended.

I don’t expect Switzerland to retreat into their shell like against Brazil, they’ll pick their moments to go forward and try to hurt Portugal. The Portuguese have faced a lot of shots, many of them from outside the box, in their opening three games and this is an area that Xhaka relishes a shot from. I think he’ll manage at least one in this game.

This season has seen Rúben Neves assume the captaincy at Wolves following Conor Coady’s loan departure to Everton as well as solidify a starting spot in Portugal’s midfield. Often utilized in a box-to-box role at Molineux, Neves has been tasked with more defensive duties under Fernando Santos, which has often seen find himself in unfamiliar territory and resort to costly fouls.

Neves has started each of Portugal’s last eight official matches, which has seen him concede a foul vs. Switzerland, two fouls vs. Czech Republic, one vs. Switzerland, zero in a 4-0 win vs. Czech Republic, two vs. Spain, two vs. Ghana, one vs. Uruguay and zero vs. South Korea. Neves was on his best behavior vs. South Korea after picking up a booking vs. Uruguay, but he could have his hands full as he looks to deal with the rapid counter-attacking threat of Breel Embolo. The Swiss forward is drawing 2.3 fouls per game in Ligue 1 and has already drawn nine in the World Cup, and he could be a real headache for Neves to deal with on Tuesday.