Netherlands vs. USA Betting Tips: Back Dumfries to be carded

The knockout stages of the World Cup get underway on Saturday afternoon, with the USA’s last 16 tie with the Netherlands kicking things off. Josh Jones is on hand to preview the game and provide us with his best bets.

It was a fairly straightforward route to this stage of the tournament for the Oranje, navigating arguably the easiest group to set up a tie with the United States. They dispatched of hosts Qatar 2-0 on Monday afternoon thanks to goals from Cody Gakpo (who was 50/1 pre-tournament to finish top scorer) and Frenkie De Jong, but they haven’t exactly been the ‘total football’, all-conquering side that some expected.

The truth is they struggled against Senegal - who play England on Sunday - and Ecuador, losing the expected goal battle in both games, and didn’t really blow Al Ennabi away despite Memphis Depay’s return to the starting XI. The big positive for them has been the irresistible form of young PSV forward Cody Gakpo, the only player to score in all three Group Stage games so far, who made it 18 goals and 18 assists in 32 appearances this season - surely driving up the price any prospective buyer will now have to pay for his services.

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He’ll be looking to continue that form against the United States, who fought tooth and nail to escape Group B and were good value for it too. Gregg Berhalter - a familiar name for Crystal Palace fans of a certain age - has got the USMNT seriously fired up and it shows in the way they have approached games so far.

They didn’t give a lacklustre England side a moment to rest in their matchday two fixture, having learned from the mistakes they made against Wales, and blew away an Iran side that looked more than the sum of its parts to progress.

Their tournament has been built on the back of what has been, frankly, an outstanding contribution from their trio of Europe-based midfielders - with Tyler Adams working alongside Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie to suffocate their opposition. The group combined for 22 tackles and interceptions in the Group Stage, but will have their work cut out to contain Frenkie De Jong who is up there among the best midfielders in the world when it comes to dictating the game and playing through a press.

One man that will consider it his personally responsibility to stop the Barcelona midfielder is Valencia’s Yunus Musah - who has been in the wars already at this World Cup.

The 20-year-old has committed four fouls in back-to-back games - and has 15 fouls in just nine starts for his club side despite playing wider and much further forward.

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Another that should also find himself in the midst of the action is Netherlands wing-back Denzel Dumfries, who has been less of an attacking threat and more of an enforcer for the Dutch so far. He has committed a tournament-high (at the time of writing) 10 fouls, surpassing this mark in all three of his games, just one ahead of Yunus Musah.

He’ll likely be tasked with taking care of ‘the LeBron of football’ Christian Pulisic, who has been the creative outlet for the US at the tournament so far - recording team-highs for shot creating actions, shots, and fouls suffered. Captain America has been the catalyst for his nation and it’ll be up to Dumfries to stop that creativity at the source.

Given their records and relative assignments, plus the magnitude of the fixture, both of these players to be carded looks an enticing play. Both players have avoided a yellow so far and have been fortunate not to pick up a suspension, never mind a single booking.

With a combined 19 fouls, it’s only a matter of time before a referee takes exception to their overzealous nature - as they have done for Musah in La Liga, with five bookings in just nine starts, while Dumfries picked up three in eight competitive international fixtures prior to the World Cup.

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