Graham Ruthven: Weekend Bet Builder

Morocco v Portugal – Under 2.5 Total Goals by Portugal

Morocco caused one of the shocks of the 2022 World Cup by dumping Spain out at the round of 16 stage with the only remaining African team in the tournament set to face Portugal in Saturday’s quarter-finals. Having come this far, Walid Regragui and his players will feel they have a genuine chance of making the final four.

Spain failed to find a way through a Moroccan defence that has conceded just one goal in four games at the 2022 World Cup and Portugal could experience similar troubles. Fernando Santos’ side put six past Switzerland in the round of 16, but Moroccan are made of sterner stuff. They won’t buckle like the Swiss did.

Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui will get forward for Morocco in the wide areas, pinning back the likes of Joao Felix and Bruno Fernandes. This will be crucial to Regragui’s game plan and will see them adopt a compact, but aggressive approach out of possession to stop Portugal from finding their stride.

Morocco v Portugal – Bruno Fernandes To Score

Only Kylian Mbappe (seven) has more combined goals and assists than Fernandes (five) at the 2022 World Cup. The Manchester United midfielder has been a difference-maker for Portugal at the tournament and could be crucial for Santos’ team in their game plan to make it past Morocco in the quarter-finals.

Morocco will be more compact against Portugal than Switzerland were in the round of 16 and this could deny the Europeans time and space in the attacking third. This will place an onus on Fernandes who has the ability to score or create something out nothing while playing in front of the opposition defence.

🚨 Bruno Fernandes in Qatar:

– 8.43 average rating (1st)– 3 assists (1st)– 5 G/A (2nd)– 4 big chances created (2nd)– 2 MOTM awards

Player of the Tournament so far. 🪄 pic.twitter.com/nEQVpUN0Yg

— Rocco (@RoccoDarts) December 9, 2022

Portugal have many other threats with Felix currently playing well and Goncalo Ramos fresh from scoring a hat trick in his first World Cup start, but Fernandes has been their most consistent attacker in Qatar. The 28-year-old is in excellent form and will be difficult for Morocco to stop.

England v France – France to go through

Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final between England and France promises to be a blockbuster with both teams capable of going all the way in Qatar. The Three Lions have cruised through the tournament to this point, but France are the defending champions and have also looked strong in their four matches so far.

France have the tactical profile, and players, to expose the weakness in Gareth Southgate’s team. England are vulnerable to opposition players getting in behind at speed, and France have Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele to help them do this. This could push England closer to the own goal and restrict their own attacking approach.

Didier Deschamps’ team have found the back of the net nine times in four games in Qatar and Mbappe will be the ultimate threat to England and their fragile defensive line. This has the potential to be a bad match-up for Southgate and his players as they seek World Cup glory.

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