Argentina and the Netherlands are both coming into this game without necessarily providing too much certainty with regard to their level of play so far in the World Cup. The Netherlands is arguably a surprise so far in this tournament. The team hasn’t looked dominant, but that wasn’t something that we were necessarily expecting from them coming into the tournament. Argentina for their part also hasn’t looked great other than perhaps in the Poland game, and we did expect a bit more from them coming into the World Cup.
Now that they are set to face off against each other for a right to head to the semifinals of the World Cup, what should we expect to see on the field? The Netherlands is likely going to feel comfortable allowing Argentina to possess the ball for long periods of time. They are once again counting on their counter attack to be efficient enough to pull them through. Argentina for their part has Messi.
Argentina May Be Too Messi Dependent
This is a story that we’ve heard for years. Perhaps this was the Argentina generation that had proven to be a little less Messi dependent. That just hasn’t been the case though in the World Cup. Against Arabia when the team got down in the scoreboard, Messi was seemingly out of the game. Other than Di Maria not too many players were able to step up and create goal scoring opportunities. Fast forward to the game with Mexico, and it’s a Messi goal that opens things up. We could say the exact same thing about this most recent Australia game.
Argentina doesn’t just need more players to be willing to take on 1v1 situations. It’s also about putting more people other than Messi in front of goal. Lautaro Martinez has not been as reliable at that number 9 spot. So much so that Scaloni has turned to Julian Alvarez. It’s not just that number 9 spot though. Help from anyone on the wing would be nice. De Paul setting foot in the opponent’s box more often would be nice. Di Maria didn’t even play in the team’s last game. A good performance from him would be encouraging as well.
The Netherlands Are Going To Follow Their Tried & True Formula
One of the problems that Argentina is going to have to contend with is the fact that the Netherlands are not going to be very comfortable with how the game is potentially going to play out. For example in the game against the USMNT the Netherlands did not look flustered when the US was on the attack. They allowed them to press up the field, and they counter them very efficiently. That Argentina back line is not the team’s strong point by any means. So the strategy just might work for the Netherlands. Of course, the Messi factor is still very much in play. We saw what happened with Mexico and Australia. You can do everything right, but if Messi shows up it’s hard to defend against that.
Our Prediction For This Game
This is a game that maybe on paper is a bit more lopsided than what oddsmakers are seeing. This is probably because oddsmakers are in fact adjusting to what we’ve seen from both teams so far this tournament. Although the Netherlands are accustomed to allowing the other team to have longer possessions we do feel that they’re going to regret that with Messi. That +120 number in favor of Argentina is the one that we like coming into this game! Remember this is a pick for a win in 90 minutes.
