After Cristiano Ronaldo was rested for Portugal’s clash against Switzerland, manager Fernando Santos now has something of a dilemma on his hands.
Morocco v Portugal Free Bets
Morocco v Portugal Bet Builder Tips
- Draw after 45 minutes
- Gonçalo Ramos to score anytime
- Under 3 total goals
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16/1 Morocco v Portugal Bet Builder Tip
We've combined three legs for this selection on Saturday
Morocco v Portugal Match Preview
By the end of Tuesday, it is fair to say that Portugal found themselves worshipping a new hero. One that comes in the shape of Gonçalo Ramos and with the Benfica forward managing to score a hattrick against Switzerland, he has arguably played his way into Saturday’s starting eleven.
However, it is an argument that he will have to contest with a certain Cristiano Ronaldo and with the free agent being handed only a substitutes berth to start with, it is also fair to say that the current Portuguese crop played with far more freedom than usual.
Freedom that comes with not everything having to eventually funnel through to Ronaldo. Freedom that allowed Bruno Fernandes to truly shine and therefore, the Portuguese team as a collective now looks far more balanced.
Which means manager Fernando Santos must decide whether to keep his biggest name consigned to the role of impact sub or shuffle the deck once more and potentially disrupt his newfound tactical equilibrium.
While although upcoming opponents Morocco do not possess the same level of equilibrium, they do possess an incredibly robust defence and it is this back line which has largely led them to the last eight in Qatar.
A defence that up until now has conceded just one goal in 300 minutes of tournament football and the only time that their net was breached was an act of their own doing. An act that came courtesy of Nayef Aguerd’s own goal against Canada.
With this being the only blot on their copybook and a small one at that, Walid Regragui’s men will now look to carry out a similar gameplan to the one before. A gameplan that foiled Spain and then paid dividends when it came to penalties.
Then again, you could also point to Spain’s lack of true focal point in attack and although they had plenty of possession earlier in the week, possession only serves as nine tenths of football’s most important law.
The law that signifies there has to be a winner at some stage, if one cannot be decided in 90 or 120 minutes by a superior amount of goals, a 12-yard shootout will be required instead. If you cannot hold your nerve at that stage, then the next flight out of Qatar will be waiting for you.
With that in mind, our latest bet builder is now up for grabs, and it looks like this:
- Draw after 45 minutes
- Gonçalo Ramos to score anytime
- Under 3 total goals
For my latest bet builder offering, the spotlight is being shown on Morocco’s defence or at least for the first 45 minutes. Because with the pattern of previous matches in this tournament, a first half draw seems a good starting point.
From that point, I am pivoting towards Gonçalo Ramos and after scoring a trio against the Swiss, I am backing him to score anytime and as long as one of his goals is no more than two total, this latest construction is currently priced at odds of 16/1.
