Netherlands v Morocco Betting Markets
Netherlands have been shortening on the World Cup outright market after making a strong start to their campaign. The Dutch were held to a 2-2 draw by Japan before cutting loose against Sweden to register a 5-1 victory. They added a further three goals against Tunisia to confirm their top spot in Group F and will now line up against Morocco for a place in the last sixteen of the competition.
The bookies offer odds of 2.10 that Ronald Koeman's side claim a normal time win. That makes them warm favourites to be victorious at Estadio BBVA in Guadalupe, although it also implies that Morocco aren't without a chance of going through. The Dutch are defensively vulnerable thanks to an attack-minded approach which has seen them concede four times already at this tournament.
On the flip side, Netherlands have scored ten goals. They have a strong Starting XI which includes Liverpool trio Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo. There's also the emergence of Sunderland forward Brian Brobbey, with Donyell Malen and Crysencio Summerville contesting to see who gets the other berth in attack.
The Atlas Lions won't be easily beaten. They were the better side for large parts of their 1-1 draw against Brazil before a slender 1-0 win against Scotland which wasn't altogether convincing. The attacking ability of the team came into play against Haiti thanks to scoring four goals and perhaps that was the ideal way to warm up for this match.
We think the game could be relatively close although there's no denying that the Dutch are a better team on paper. Their 5-1 defeat of Sweden was particularly impressive and perhaps they will simply outscore another team.
Goals Under/Over
We're yet to find a last 32 World Cup clash where Over 2.5 Goals is trading as the favourite of the two options. This is once again the case for the clash between the Netherlands and Mexico. This is despite the fact that fourteen goals have been scored across three matches involving the Dutch. They have troubled the net on a constant basis and also not kept a clean sheet.
It's hard to believe that Ronald Koeman will want his team to scale back on their attacking ambitions here. Despite the prospect of these ties being on a knife edge, the positive play that they've embraced thus far has yielded good results. However, they will be up against defensively strong opponents. It was a solid achievement to limit the Brazilians to an expected goals tally of 1.26 in their opener.
On that occasions, the African side registered 1.37 and they'll have a set-up to try and absorb pressure while hitting the Dutch on the break.
BTTS
The BTTS No option is trading at odds of 1.80. There's always the scenario where the two teams feel each other out. The presence of the hydration breaks effectively breaks these football matches into four quarters and that will help a side like Morocco who will look to tweak their "out of possession" tactics in a bid to stop the Dutch in their tracks.
However, this Netherlands side have been involved in three straight BTTS Yes games. They've scored a grand total of ten goals and it doesn't seem plausible that the Moroccans can stop them in their tracks. Perhaps the bookies are recounting the fact that the Atlas Lions nullified the opposition en route to landing a semi-final spot.
This game could go one of two ways. We might either see Netherlands land a victory along with both teams finding the net. If they score an early goal, then Morocco might have to change tactics and go chasing the game. Alternatively, the African side scoring the opener might see them batten down the hatches and a win for the Atlas Lions along with BTTS No could be a decent outcome.
First Goalscorer
Brian Brobbey has taken his chance with Netherlands and grabbed it with both hands. The Sunderland man was given the nod against Sweden and promptly bagged a brace, with his goals coming in the first twenty minutes of the game. The forward was then able to secure another early goal as part of his team's 3-1 success against Tunisia. It's likely that Ronald Koeman will deploy him in the attacking role once again.
Cody Gakpo is the most nailed starting attacking player, with the Liverpool man operating on the left and offering a threat. It will be interesting whether Achraf Hakimi decides to venture forward from his right-back position, especially as the Dutch will aim to pin him and the rest of the Moroccan players back.
It's notable that two of the team's centre-halves have already found the net. Virgil van Dijk was able to score to give the men in orange the lead against Japan, with Paul van Hecke also on the scoresheet when landing the third goal for his team against Tunisia.
It was Hakimi who scored Morocco's first goal against Haiti to restore parity, although the top scorer for the team has been Ismael Sabiri who has been on the scoresheet against all three of the Atlas Lions' opponents.