Having recorded a hard-fought victory over Egypt in their opening game, the tournament favourites could be in for another difficult task, this time against dark horses Belarus.

Brazil boss Mano Menezes not only brought a very strong squad to the 2012 London Olympics, but he also had plenty of time to work with this group, so no wonder the Seleccao were seen as the number one favourites for the trophy.

The predictions seemed spot on when they scored three goals inside the first period in the opening game against Egypt, but two second-half goals from the Pharaohs made them sweat in the final 15 minutes of the match.

The clash against Egypt should serve as warning that Brazil need to take every opponent seriously if they want to win their first ever Olympic gold, and we are yet to see how the team will respond against Belarus.

At the moment, the Seleccao are 1.18 (2/11) with Stan James to win this game and thus secure their place in the quarter-finals, whereas they are 2.00 (1/1) with Bodog to lift the title.

Mano Menezes is likely to stick to the same side that beat Egypt and he is only expected to experiment in the final group game against New Zealand.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Neto – Rafael, Thiago Silva, Juan, Marcelo – Oscar, Sandro, Romulo – Hulk, Leandro Damiao, Neymar.

Belarus may be making their first appearance at the Summer Olympics, but nobody is really surprised to see the Red Devils in London.

The former Russian republic have become famous for their excellent work in youth categories and most of their youth sides are regular at tournament finals.

Belarus Olympic squad have done well to mastermind a 1-0 victory over New Zealand in their opening game, although they scored the only goal from a set-piece.

While boasting a rock-solid defence Georgi Kondratjev’s side are desperately short of quality in attack, which is why odds of 1.83 (5/6) offered by Paddy Power on Belarus not to score do look tempting.

The Red Devils are expected to line up in a 4-5-1 formation with former Zenit star Sergei Kornilenko set to be deployed as a lone striker.

Probable starting line-up (4-5-1): Gutor – Kozlov, Politevich, Polyakov, Kuzmianok- Solovey, Renan, Dragun, Baga, Gordeychuk – Kornilenko.