Morocco vs. Spain Betting Tips: Focus on corners and free kicks in Al Rayyan
The final day of the round of 16 is here, as Morocco take on Spain followed by Portugal vs Switzerland.
After a clean sweep of winners in his Argentina vs Poland piece, Dean Woodward has previewed the intriguing 3pm clash between Group F winners Morocco and Group E runners-up Spain, listing his two top tips below...
It's been an incredible run for Morocco who finished top of Group F, beating both Belgium and Canada, after drawing with Croatia in match day one.
Conceding just one goal across those three games shows Morocco's quality and they will be looking to frustrate La Roja and give everything in attempt to make the World Cup Quarter-Finals.
The Paris Saint-Germain star, Achraf Hakimi, was not risked in full training at the weekend, so should be fit enough to start here in their biggest game so far. It's likely Morocco start with an unchanged XI here, with Boufal, En-Nesyri and Ziyech in the front three.
Spain finished second in Group E, with Japan shocking the world by topping a group that also contained Germany.
A 7-0 mauling of Costa Rica in the opener got Spain's campaign off to a flier, followed by a 1-1 draw with Germany.
A shock match day three defeat against Japan, in which Spain looked completely dominant, having 82% of the ball and leading after just 11 minutes, but pegged back with two second-half goals from Japan, dropping Spain to second in the group and sending the Germans home on goal difference.
With some rotation from Luis Enrique for the Japan game, it's likely he will revert back to Alba, Laporte, Rodri and Carvajal for this round of 16 tie.
Golden Boot contender Alvaro Morata should keep his place after scoring in all three games so far, with Ferran Torres likely to step back into his right wing role.
Morocco vs Spain Tips
Spain have been breaking records this World Cup with incredible passing displays, racking up ludicrous numbers, hitting over one-thousand passes against both Costa Rica and Japan.
Rodri managed a whopping 215 passes against Japan, even though they lost the game 2-1 it shows how dominant they are with the ball which ultimately limits opposition attacking opportunities.
This World Cup so far, Spain are yet to concede a first half corner, even against Germany.
Morocco have only managed a total of three corners all tournament and I expect their first half attacks to be few and far between against Spain on Tuesday.
It also looks like a generous free kick line against the heavy fouling of the African side. Morocco gave away 16, 17 and 18 free kicks in their three games so far, with offsides playing a part in those, I expect this line to be cleared.
Following on from the above information, I have to take the longer odds of 9/2 with bet365 for both plays as they look so generous.
With Spain conceding zero first half corners in all three games so far due to their sheer dominance with the ball, I think this has a good chance to land yet again.
Morocco had zero first half corners against both Croatia and Belgium and with a place in the quarterfinals on the line here, I expect them to be cagey in the first half.
Morocco's opposition have also cleared this free kick line with relative ease in all three games so far, going over 15.5 in all of them.
Taking the 13.5 line looks a safer play, but I wouldn’t oppose risking even higher for a small stake.
Spain have taken 46 free kicks this tournament so playing the averages here, this longer price could well go close.
