Argentina won their group with a maximum nine points. They defeated Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria by one goal each. Switzerland was the seeded team in Group E but finished second. They beat Ecuador and Honduras with a forgettable showing against France in between.

The belief is that Argentina can play much better than they did in the group stage. Lionel Messi has scored four goals and is one of the only bright spots for Argentina. The defense has been vulnerable and there isn’t much service from the midfielder for strikers Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero. Ezequiel Lavezzi will likely start because Aguero is injured. Xherdan Shaqiri is Switzerland’s best player and he proved why with a hat trick against Honduras. Striker Josip Drmic and midfielder Granit Xhaka are players that could give problems to the Argentina defense.

Prediction: Argentina 2, Switzerland 1

I think Lavezzi will have a strong match for Argentina and play well with Messi. Argentina will score the first two goals and the Swiss will pull one back very late.

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