As stated on Fifa’s official website, Argentina centre-back Lisandro Martinez has been left out of the starting XI in the South American side’s opening World Cup match against Saudi Arabia.
The 24-year-old has been under spotlight for the past few months. The defender helped Lionel Scaloni’s side win the Copa America after 28 years. The former Ajax centre-back has also been head and shoulders above the rest when playing for Manchester United.
Martinez has 10 appearances for Argentina and has helped them achieve 9 clean sheets. The La Albiceleste are favourites to win the World Cup title this year as they have maintained their unbeaten run of 36 games. The Licha played against UAE in the friendly match last week and his side won by a huge margin.
Argentina will be counting on themselves to climb up the ladder in the World Cup campaign. The world’s third best team have a star studded line-up with Lionel Messi, Angel di Maria, Lautaro Martinez spearheading the attack.
However, Martinez will miss the tie against Saudi Arabia as the manager has preffered to partner Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Romero alongside Benfica’s Nicolas Otamendi. Atletico Madrid’s Nahuel Molina and Olympique Lyonnais’ Nicolas Tagliafico complete the back-line for Argentina.
We believe that Scaloni’s team will still miss Martinez’s marking skills and ability to provide crunch passes from the back. Argentina are favourites to win the contest and we expect them to top the group as well.
