Morocco vs Spain: Tues 6th Dec, 3:00pm
Spain kicked off their World Cup campaign in devastating fashion as they thrashed Costa Rica 7-0 in a statement-making display.
However, Luis Enrique’s men have since gone off the boil and followed up their 1-1 draw against Germany with a shock 2-1 defeat to Japan.
That loss condemned the Spaniards to second place in the group, though that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Their failure to win the group meant Spain avoided a knockout clash with 2018 runners-up Croatia and will instead take on Group F winners Morocco.
The African outfit have produced one of the surprises of the tournament by topping a group which included Croatia and Belgium.
A 2-0 victory over the Red Devils and a 2-1 win against Canada confirmed Morocco’s spot in the round of 16 for just the second time in their history.
Walid Regragui’s side will be huge underdogs for their clash with the 2010 World Cup champions, though that doesn’t mean we can easily dismiss The Atlas Lions.
Morocco are in scintillating form having gone unbeaten in 12 competitive outings. What’s more, the African side have conceded just one goal in seven fixtures – including international friendlies.
The Spaniards have also enjoyed an upswing in results this year and have lost just two of their last 14 games.
Enrique has a wealth of talent and quality in his squad, though the major area of concern is the lack of experience.
La Roja boast the fourth-youngest team in the tournament, with the average age being 25.6.
The Spaniards are clearly building a team for the future, though that’s not to say they can’t challenge for medals in 2022.
While their loss to Japan is a tad worrying, Spain will return to their strongest line-up for the Morocco clash, meaning they should have enough quality to see off their African counterparts.
Our recommendation is to back the European outfit to pick up a 2-1 victory in the correct score market.
Spain to score first is another enticing offer, considering they’ve bagged the opener in all three of their group games.
Portugal vs Switzerland: Tues 6th Dec, 7:00pm
If you followed our pre-tournament guide, you will recall we went for Switzerland as World Cup dark horses. And Murat Yakin’s men have delivered so far, edging through a group of Brazil, Serbia and Cameroon.
Ahead of the tournament we suggested the Swiss “have a dependable backline of Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schar and Manuel Akanji as well as keeper Yann Sommer, who kept six clean sheets in qualifying”.
And that has proved correct. They kept a clean sheet vs Cameroon, conceded just once against Brazil and were then 3-2 victors over Serbia in what was essentially a knockout game with a context greater than sport.
A possible quarter-final with Spain is on the agenda for the Swiss if they can edge out Portugal on Tuesday night and their defensive action will have to be at their best.
Yakin’s men have been solid and robust, as we expected, and they will be hard for Portugal to break down.
The last group win versus Serbia was a game which swung back and forwards with both teams showing plenty of attacking intent.
There was added spice to the encounter due to the political tension between the two countries and the Portugal clash is more likely to resemble the Brazil game than the ding-dong, 3-2 win over Serbia.
The Swiss showed up well against Brazil and the tournament favourites had to rely on a late Casemiro goal to earn them victory.
A similarly cautious approach is expected against a Portugal side, who have shown their defensive vulnerability against Ghana and South Korea.
The Swiss have not been fluent in attack and have managed only 18 goal attempts from inside the penalty area, but Portugal have attempted only 16.
Portugal have scored six goals to Serbia’s four and have yet to show they are capable of going deep into the tournament. The bookies have not been impressed either and Fernando Santos’ men are only seventh favourites in the outright betting.
Still they are fancied by the moneymen to get past Switzerland. But we believe that Switzerland may just repel everything that Portugal have to offer and in Breel Embolo, Xherdan Shaqiri and Ruben Vargas they have just as likely matchwinners.
It could be a cagey, tactical affair that could go to extra-time and penalties.
