We have two major games in the World Cup today, as the Netherlands takes on Argentina and Brazil meets with Croatia. These two quarterfinals will be at the center of the attention of all football fans across the globe and arguably the central sports events.
Brazil VS Croatia
The Brazilians are the top favorites for winning the title in Qatar, and so far, they have been doing well. On the other side, Croatia reached the quarterfinals roughly, following a couple of dramas, but they are among the top eight teams in the world. By the way, we will remind you that this country won second place four years earlier in Russia.
Brazil was excellent so far, but we need to say that they had a bit easier path towards here. Following two wins in the group stage, Serbia, 2-0, and Switzerland, 1-0, they lost to Cameroon, 0-1, in a game that didn’t mean anything to them. Following that, we saw them beating Korea in the Round of 16, 4-1, packing four goals inside the opening half.
Tite’s team is extremely potent upfront, with several players able to score goals – Vinicius, Richarlison, Neymar, Raphinha etc. Though, their defense is often neglected, and they are under the radar, with the likes of Militao, Silva, Casemiro, and others, who are doing their job perfectly.
Croatia has three draws and a win so far when looking only at the 90 minutes at the World Cup. After playing 0-0 against Morocco in the first round, they would beat Canada 4-2, and somehow survive Belgium, 0-0, in the last game of the group stage. They need to thank Lukaku for all his misses in the second half, which we pretty unreal. After that, Croatia eliminated Japan on penalties following 1-1 in the regular time.
This is an experienced team, with lots of very good players who are mentally tough and very endurable under pressure. This might be their biggest weapon. The midfield is the best part of the unit, while the defense and offense know to be mediocre.
Regarding the pick here, Brazil is an absolute favorite, and they will win this matchup without any issues because they have the ability to move the ball very fast, which will create a problem for the slow-paced Croats.
Pick: Brazil 2/5 at BetXchange
Netherlands VS Argentina
This is a classic, that we saw many times at the World Cups, once even in the finals, back in 1978, when Argentina used the home-court edge, having a lot of luck and beating the rivals following an OT. Here in South Africa, both play well.
The Netherlands had the easiest group at the tournament, and they posted two wins and a loss. After beating Senegal in the opener, 2-0, they played 1-1 against Ecuador and 2-0 VS Qatar. Then we saw a very good display in the round of 16 against the USA, whom they eliminated 3-1.
Cody Gakpo is the star here, with three goals so far and an indispensable influence on the field. PSV’s youngster is maybe the best player of the tournament, with Mbappe and Oranje’s biggest weapon.
Argentina started the tournament in Qatar with a shock, losing to Saudi Arabia, 2-1. It looked like the Gauchos are going to go home much earlier than expected, but the winning mentality of this unit emerged to the surface, with them winning the next two games in the group VS Mexico and Poland, 2-0 both, and then beat Australia in the Round of 16, 2-1.
A strong and very powerful midfield is this team’s biggest advantage over other teams. Also, Messi is another one, and as time goes by, one of the GOATs is improving his form.
We are backing up the Argentinians to win here because of their midfield, which will close all the gaps for Oranje, and prevent them from imposing their passing style in that part of the field.
Pick: Argentina 11/10 at BetXchange
