Argentina have carried all before them in the World Cup Finals thus far and it'd be a brave - or stupid, perhaps - individual that bets against them beating Mexico in their last sixteen clash in Leipzig on Saturday.
 
Having already qualified from Group C by virtue of victories over the Ivory Coast and Serbia & Montenegro, Jose Pekerman rested many of his key players in their final group fixture against fellow qualifiers Holland.
 
Ominously for the other fifteen nations aspiring to World Cup glory, Argentina proved in their encounter with Holland that they possess outstanding strength in depth and, despite the fact that the game ended in a stalemate, the Argentinians demonstrated just how tough a nut they are going to be to crack in this competition.
 
Indeed, it's incredible to think that the current Argentina side is so good that players like Lionel Messi, Julio Cruz and Carlos Tevez aren't permanent fixtures in their first team. I honestly can't think of any other side that has such a wealth of precocious talent at its disposal.
 
Mexico will not take their beating lying down and can be expected to throw the kitchen sink at fellow their fellow south Americans. El Tricolor have met Argentina fourteen times, losing on five occasions, winning twice, and seven of those meetings ended all square. The two nations met twice last year, and both matches resulted in draws after normal time.
 
But, after failing to beat Angola and suffering defeat at the hands of Portugal in Group D, Ricardo La Volpe's charges have an awful lot to prove now. The rampant Albiceleste played what can only be described as champagne football when hammering the Serbs 6-0 in their penultimate match in Gelsenkirchen.
 
This performance was without a doubt the most explosive of the tournament so far. Juan Riquelme has been irresistible of late, marshalling the middle of the park with such distinction along with Maxi Rodriguez, while Hernan Crespo, scorer of thirty-one goals in fifty-seven matches, has been looking extremely sharp, spearheading a potent attack which also includes the hugely talented Javier Saviola.
 
El Tri will no doubt bid to make life difficult for the Argentine attack by playing Barcelona's Rafael Marquez in a more defensive midfield role. Mexico were far from disgraced in their latest match against Portugal, against whom they bossed the game for much of the second half and, despite being reduced to ten men they displayed tremendous fighting spirit and, all in all, were unlucky not to salvage a draw in the end.
 
However, when push comes to shove, Argentina will represent a far sterner test than Portugal, and this is a test Mexico are doomed to fail, for their rivals on this occasion are simply magnificent.
 
Interestingly, ten of the seventeen goals scored in the group games Argentina Mexico were involved came in the first half. Both teams are habitually quick off the blocks so the value bet in this match could turn out to be the 9/4 on offer with Betfred about first half in the half with most goals market.

Verdict - 2pts first half in the half with most goals market @ 9/4 (Betfred)