India vs New Zealand
Intercontinental Cup 2018
Date: Thursday, 7th June 2018
Kick-off at 15:30 UK/ 16:30 CET
Venue: Mumbai Football Arena (Mumbai).
India will qualify for the 2018 Intercontinental Cup finals if they avoid a heavy defeat against New Zealand on Thursday.
But the visitors must win here and hope Chinese Taipei avoid a heavy defeat to Kenya on Friday.
The home team is in sublime form at the moment and their confidence will be a touch high after comfortable wins against Chinese Taipei (5-0) and Kenya (3-0).
Meantime, New Zealand struggled against the lower ranked Taipei and were lucky to see out the game on a 1-0 margin.
They All Whites lost 1-2 to Kenya on the opening day, so it is important for them to put three points on the board and put the pressure back on the African side.
India vs New Zealand Head-to-head
The only meeting between India and New Zealand in a football field has to be traced back to the calendar year 1961. It was a cup competition called Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the match ended in a goal-less draw.
India vs New Zealand Predictions
India once again proved that they are a strong side under home conditions with the 3-0 win against Kenya.
To boost the morale and confidence along with the current momentum, they have majority of their players in fine touch. The one that stand out is Captain Sunil Chetri who bagged 5 goals in the competition so far.
New Zealand are a relatively young side and lack the consistency to stay put through the 90 minutes. They were lucky to escape with a 1-0 win against Chinese Taipei, some poor refereeing decisions once again stood out in the game.
Thus, we can confidently back the home side to win here. Expect a couple of goals in the second half as New Zealand team wears out in the extreme humid conditions of Mumbai.
India vs New Zealand Betting Tips
- India to win at 2.05 odd
- Over 1.5 second half goals @ 2.25 odds.
