Charlie Cummings gives his best anytime goalscorer bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for Thursday’s FIFA World Cup slate.
Game 2 of the group stage after a loss is as desperate as you’ll see a team. Czechia was awfully close to an upset over South Korea, but couldn’t hold their one-goal lead and conceded the winner in the 80th minute. Now they have to buckle down for a win against South Africa, or else their knockout hopes are toast. And they’re going to need a lot more out of their attack.
Pavel Sulc was one of their best attackers in the first match. Primarily on the left flank, Sulc was active at the top of the box and involved in much of their progressive play. Mexican winger Julián Quiñones destroyed this South African defense from that same position in the first game, and I expect Sulc to do the same.
Boy, Ndoye sure burned the Swiss — and me — in the first game. I had him picked as an anytime bet after an elite run up to the Cup, and he had all the chances you could ask for. Against Qatar, Ndoye racked up six shot attempts in 65 minutes, generating 0.4 expected goals on those shots. The worst miss was an absolute sitter on a cutback in the first half that would have given them the lead. Safe to say, Ndoye has to be better against a gritty Bosnian defense.
Now his odds to score have dropped, but he’s going to be no less involved this time around. The Swiss generated 3.20 xG against Qatar, and I expect a similar level of performance against the Bosnians. While they are excellent at blocking shots in the box, an inferior Canadian attack managed to wear them down over the course of the match. Ndoye will get it done this time around.
You have to wonder if Canadian manager Jesse Marsch is contemplating some serious lineup changes for Thursday’s match. In their opener, Jonathan David and Tani Oluwaseyi created only two shots on target in 137 combined minutes. Promise David and Cyle Larin replaced them, and the two linked up for the equalizing goal in the 78th minutes, with Larin on the receiving end.
It would be hard to justify benching Jonathan David, the most talented attacker on the team, but Oluwaseyi’s spot is far from assured. I expect Larin to get the starting nod here and to produce big results against a Qatari defense that was awfully shaky against Switzerland.
This one is practically for the group. South Korea and Mexico won their first matches in Group A, and it’s a real three-pointer at the top. Both teams have to be on their A game Thursday, and that means a big performance for Heung Min Son.
Son, the lone striker in their 3-4-2-1 formation, failed to capitalize on his chances against Czechia. Only one of his six shot attempts ended up on goal, the line shot on target being an excellent opportunity. He has to be better against Mexico. Luckily for Son, the Mexican side will be without César Montes, who picked up a red card late in their opening match against South Africa. Everything lines up for a big Son performance on Thursday.
Check out the World Cup landing page at DraftKings Network for more World Cup content!
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。