WORLD CUP SATURDAY: The Ultra previews Saturday’s quarter final games in the World Cup between MOROCCO v PORTUGAL and ENGLAND v FRANCE both including a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MOROCCO V PORTUGAL
3pm The FIFA World Cup Quarter-Finals continue on Saturday on BETDAQ Betting Exchange with two fascinating markets. All eyes will be on England v France tonight, but Morocco v Portugal is a cracking warm-up game before the highlight! Not many football fans would have expect Morocco to get past Spain, but you have to give Morocco massive credit now. They have played Croatia, Belgium and Spain while remaining unbeaten! Despite that record, Portugal will be delighted to face Morocco at the Quarter-Final stage compared to Spain. You have to say this side of the draw is definitely the easier side – the only major favourite was France, and if you’re going to win a World Cup you’re going to have to meet a major side at some point. For Portugal, meeting the major side at the Semi-Final stage is a nice result, and from there who knows what can happen. Portugal will be expected to win this game – indeed, they come in as the odds on favourites. They are trading 1.72 at the time of writing, and all eyes will be on whether or not Ronaldo starts. He was benched for the impressive Switzerland win and it’s going to be hard for the manager to start him given that was his sides best performance of the tournament. Switzerland are a solid side who were in good form, and Portugal blew them away comfortably.
The Ronaldo situation is always going to be a talking point, but I feel at his age with his behaviour, he’s not worth the hassle now. Like Gary Neville said, the Juventus manager, Manchester United manager and now the Portugal manager all can’t be wrong. His attitude stinks, and he is probably better off taking the money in Saudi Arabia – to be honest the reality is what club around Europe wants him? It was very interesting to see how the markets reacted to the Ronaldo news – we saw massive money come in for Portugal after the team news, and it was totally proven right. It will be interesting to see what tactics Morocco go with it – they basically went into the Spain game for a 0-0 and it paid off, however Portugal have scored a lot more goals than Spain and without Ronaldo will have more pace up front too. It will definitely be an interesting dynamic to see wins the tactical battle. From a goals point of view, Portugal have seen a lot of action while the Morocco games have been very cagey. Under 2.5 goals is trading 1.75, so the market is expecting a reasonably cagey game. The bet I like here is Both Teams Not To Score at 1.8. I can see Morocco sitting back for the whole game and playing a very cagey game. They haven’t created much xG wise, granted they have taken their chances when they got them, but I feel Portugal can keep a clean sheet here. I do feel Portugal will win, but I wouldn’t be totally surprised to see a 0-0 either.
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Both Teams Not To Score at 1.8 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/MorPor
ENGLAND V FRANCE
7pm The one we’ve all been waiting for! England meet France in a World Cup Quarter-Final that is going to get everyone talking. England have had a relatively easy draw to this point, and this is crunch time. If they go out at this stage, Southgate will still face all the questions he took coming into the tournament and I suppose the manner of the defeat will have an impact on whether he stays or goes. If England are hammered I don’t think he’ll be allowed stay – his contract runs past Euro 2024 but the English media will pile on the pressure. The French manager Didier Deschamps also came into the tournament will massive question marks and under immense pressure at home after a terrible Nations League campaign. Deschamps was definitely sweating when Australia took the lead early in their first Group game, but since then France have been one of the most impressive sides in the tournament. There’s no doubt that Mbappe has been the star of the World Cup so far, and France even had the luxury of resting players for their final Group game. We have a pretty open market here – France come into the game as favourites at 2.55 with England 3.15 and the draw trading 3.35. I expected to see France trading a little shorter, but you have to admit England haven’t put a foot wrong yet at this World Cup. Whatever way you look at the game, we’re going to have a cracker. While it could turn into a very cagey game, we have so much attacking talent on the pitch surely we’ll see things kick off at some point.
How England deal with Mbappe is likely to decide the game in my opinion. He’s so fast it will be interesting to see what tactics they go with – do they put two players on him, or go with Kyle Walker who is very fast. However, I don’t think anyone is as fast as Mbappe! In the match odds market, I would favour France at around 2.55 but I wouldn’t be massively confident. I feel the better bet here is Over 2.5 goals at 2.13. They say styles make matches, and I feel these two will gel very well together – we should have a very entertaining game! With the stakes so high, it’s only natural that we could get a cagey start, but as I said above there’s so much attacking talent on the pitch we’re bound to find a spark at some stage, and if we get a goal in the first half then I feel we’ll see a very open game. Both sides have been involved in high scoring games – France have had Over 2.5 goals in all three games when they played their best XI. Apart from the boring 0-0 with USA, in which USA played for, England have had Over 2.5 goals in their other three games. Getting against odds on Overs here looks a nice position; I really wouldn’t be surprised to see a 3-2 win for either side, and if something like that happens we are in for a real treat!
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Over 2.5 goals at 2.13 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/EngFra
