Netherlands vs. Ecuador Bet Builder Tips: Cody Gakpo to prove why he is main man for the Netherlands
The Netherlands will play Ecuador in their second game in Group A on Friday. Both of these teams got off to a winning start in their opening fixture with the Netherlands scoring two late goals against Senegal, while Ecuador cruised to a very easy victory against Qatar.
We’ll be looking at the betting market ahead of the game, picking out a Bet Builder for the action...
Netherlands vs Ecuador Bet Builder Tips
Cody Gakpo is slowly establishing himself as one of the most promising up-and-comers in Europe and many are expecting this campaign with Netherlands to be his breakout one into the big leagues.
Gakpo was his nation’s saviour in their last game as he scored one of the two late goals against Senegal with the other goal being a 90+9th minute Davy Klaassen goal. Gakpo was a constant threat the whole game despite it being fairly even for a large part of it and with his goal being the catalyst to their victory, you’d like to think he has reclaimed his spot in the starting XI.
Gakpo played last game as a central attacking midfielder which was a bit strange but when he abandoned that position, that was when he was fully activated. The goal he scored was from a run straight into the box and leaping over defenders, exactly what you’d want your striker to be doing. If Louis Van Gaal takes anything from that game it should be that his main striker should be Gakpo who was being wasted in the attacking midfield role.
I’d still fancy this bet even if he is playing as an attacking midfielder but it’d be more ideal if he was playing as a striker. 9/5 for a Dutch forward to have 2+ shots on target against a team they are favoured against is always going to be a good bet, especially when you take into consideration how good Gakpo is, not just at scoring with his feet but has also shown serious ability in the air.
Another exciting youngster is Ecuador’s Moises Caicedo, who has been a good man to back for yellow cards this season. For Brighton this season he has picked up five yellow cards and he was booked in his last game against Qatar.
The referee in charge is Mustapha Ghorbal who by the looks of it isn’t shy at dashing out the cards. The two games on record for him I can see is a CAF Confederation Cup game where he dished out three yellow cards and the next being a CAF-Supercup game where he dished out four cards. Going off the data we’ve got, an average of 3.5 cards per game is definitely one that should yield some value in the player card market.
Caicedo already has a reputation for picking up cards and with the expected forwards to be Gakpo, Bergwijn and Depay, you’d be expecting him to commit a fair few fouls. Pairing that with a ref that isn’t too shy when it comes to bringing his cards out, 11/5 for a midfielder to be booked when they aren’t likely to enjoy much possession could be a great bet.
This makes the Bet Builder a solid 9.81/1 with Betfair which can also be combined with their completely free £2 Bet Builder every day this week on the World Cup!
As always, good luck to everyone that follows.